Customer Reviews

In the Footsteps of Eve: The Mystery of Human Origins (Adventure Press)

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The great value of this easy to read and engaging book is that it brings to centre-stage the fossils and artefacts of South Africa which have been eclipsed in recent decades by the (deserved) attention given to those in eastern Africa. My ears popped as I heard my wife read out loud (we alternated chapters) about the 10 million hand axes and other stone tools just south of Kimberley and the tens of thousands of hand axes, choppers, cores, and other elements further to the west, illustrating the success of the transitional archaic Homo sapiens that lived there about 100,000 years ago. A fossilized sand footprint from 117,000 years ago, clearly human, was another exciting discovery.

Professor Lee Berger is another bold, brash, ambitious personality in the tradition of Broom, Tobias, Leakey, and Johanson. (He wrote in his diary, while still a graduate student, "Watch Out Richard Leakey.") Yes, he is a bit of an unabashed self-promoter like the others but is so engaging about it that its easily forgiven and it makes the book even more enjoyable to read. Its all in a good cause -- to bring Australopithecus Africanus back as a contender as forerunner to H. habilis and H. sapiens and to push Johanson's "Lucy" off into the shadows. Whether he succeeds in redrawing our family tree or not, and the jury is still out, Berger has reinvigorated the detective story about human origins. Recent Out of Africa -- Yes! but from which part? East, or South?

Four stars, not five. There were just not enough pictures or charts, especially for a National Geographic Book and far too many typos. Parts seemed altered in page proofs or "rushed into print." Let's hope there's a great second edition soon.

From the keyboard of a amateur, this is an engaging and thoughtful book about a powerful and fascinating subject. Lee Berger has succeeded in bringing to light some of the most personal issues to our species, how and when we became human. He is a superb writer discussing what could be dry scientific issues with in a suspenseful and charismatic way. If you have any interest in the current scientific thought on human evolution, you must read this book!

This book is an interesting book on Human Origins that shifts attention away from East Africa to South Africa. It makes one aware of the vital importance of South African discoveries in the field of paleoanthropology due to the abundance of remains, but points out some of the South African finds' problems as well, such as the difficulty in dating cave remains. Furthermore, Berger provides a nice history of South African Paleoanthropology.

Berger also reminds those interested in paleoanthropology about the controversial nature of the field and places himself right in the middle of the controversies of the 1990s with his long arms - short legs theory. This theory is Berger's contribution to anthropological controversy and tries to remove the title of "mother of all humankind" from Lucy and perhaps place it in South Africa (and for sure suggest that earliest H. sapiens come from South Africa). However, here is where his main faults come forth. His chapters on the scientific and technical reasons that Africanus's limb proportions are of importance is sloppy and not convincing. Furthmore, he seems to have taken a real beating from Tim White (co-discoverer of Lucy) who attacks one of Berger's claims of finding a chimp-like tibia associated with Africanus. Berger writes that he survived and even perhaps won this battle, but Tim White seems to me to be the true victor.

Moreover, there are plenty of typos in the book, which make reading less smooth than it ougth to be and there are way to few pictures and charts.

Even with these flaws, I recommend the book to those interested in paleoanthropology already because it brings one up to speed on all the new finds and re-classification.

Lee Berger and journalist Brett Hilton-Barber have written an engaging and concise overview of the main events in the discovery and interpretation of human evolution, including the obligatory personality clashes and disagreements. This sort of thing has been covered before in other books, but what is new and important here is the focus on the significance of the South African hominid fossils. One of the unfortunate side effects of the apartheid era in South Africa and the economic and intellectual embargoes imposed upon it was the loss, for so many years, of the knowledge of some of the world's finest hominid fossils. Unearthed and then locked away in vaults, they languished unstudied and undescribed for many years. For students of human evolution, this was literally an undiscovered country. This book is a compelling look at these fossils, and the intellectual journey that Berger embarked on in order to understand them.

Berger chose to go to South Africa at a time when it was considered inappropriate for academics to be seen dealing with that country. He was fully aware of the potential consequences of such a move, including the possibility of being barred entrance to Kenya (and access to its fossils), but for an ambitious student, the attraction of working with original and often previously unexamined hominid fossils was too powerful to ignore. And, as this book clearly illustrates, Berger was nothing if not ambitious.

There has been relatively little work published on the South African fossils since the 1950s (most notably some analyses on their functional morphology), so much of what we see in textbooks regarding them is based on rather old work. As a result, there has been a tendency to pay little attention to the South African material in the popular literature, compared to the accounts of the phenomenal fossils that have been found in East Africa. The fact that the geology and depositional history of the South African cave sites is so enormously difficult to interpret has only added to this inadvertent marginalization, because no absolute dates can be attached to any fossil using conventional radiometric dating techniques. Despite the difficulties, Berger is insistent that the South African hominids are important to our understanding of human evolution, and he is right.

Much of this book is devoted to how Berger arrived at his interpretation of the sequence of early hominid evolution based upon the morphology of Australopithecus africanus, a hominid often assigned to a side branch in human evolutionary family trees. He postulates that A. africanus, and not A. afarensis ("Lucy"), is a direct human ancestor. Even if his particular interpretation remains open to question (there was much he did not mention about how hominid fossil relationships are determined), he has helped to confirm the suspicion that the road to the genus Homo is rather more complicated than once thought. The analysis of hominid postcrania (the skeleton from the neck down) has often shown a sequence of evolutionary adaptation that is discordant with what the study of skulls and teeth alone has suggested. Traditionally there has been a strong bias toward the analysis of craniodental remains to the exclusion of the postcranium, not the least because the former is far more abundant and taxonomically important. The trick is putting these sometimes-divergent lines of evidence together. Berger thinks he has an answer, but time will tell.

The main problem with the book is Berger's rather large ego and sense of self-importance. It is plain throughout that his intention is self-aggrandizement, even at the expense of others, and therefore the attempt to portray himself as a disinterested academic/administrator trying to create the best department he can doesn't entirely ring true. There is a niggling sense that Ronald Clarke was not well treated; perhaps Clarke's fears that Berger would "take over" the Sterkfontein australopithecine skeleton were not unfounded, and Berger's ambition throughout is too apparent to really take his protestations seriously. Berger is out to make his mark in the profession, and make it fast. He also sets himself up as a David facing down the Goliath of scientific consensus, embodied in the form of Tim White and his team of researchers. This may make for good dramatic tension, but the fact is, no matter whose jet the White team arrived on, Berger was under no obligation to submit to an inquisition regarding his work. Most researchers are more than happy to discuss their published work with colleagues, so I sense a bit of descriptive overkill here.

The other big complaint is that a copy editor apparently never laid eyes on the text: It is riddled with an inexcusable number of typos, misspellings of names (of both individuals and fossils) and generally sloppy or nonexistent editing. One wonders if there was pressure on Berger or National Geographic to get the book out fast, for some reason. Nevertheless, there is no doubt of the importance of the material from the caves of South Africa, and Berger has put forth some interesting and provocative ideas about how human evolution proceeded. If one can stomach the lack of polish and Berger's overriding ego, the book provides a valuable insight into an often-overlooked part of the human evolutionary story.

Published at a timely point in the debate over human origins and lineage, this is a valuable
item. The idea of human origins in Eurasia has been long displaced. Not only is it clear that
our beginnings are in Africa, as Darwin suggested, but for many years the birthing site was
considered to be the Rift Valley. Just when view appeared to be well established, along comes
this Georgia rebel relocating our origins to southern Africa. Not satisfied with a geographical
disruption, he snaps branches from the conceived evolutionary tree. He builds a convincing
case with smooth assurance. We might be sitting on that beach on the African coast where
"Eve's" footprints were found, listening to him relate their importance in a bigger picture.
He's a fine story teller. There are few flaws in this book, although some aspects are
disconcerting.

The popular press, in dealing with anthropology, seems unable to shun the term "missing
link." As a result, we continue to view each new fossil as filling some niche in a line stretching
back from me to some barely upright savannah dweller. Berger wants to dispel this fallacy,
becoming our tour guide in the field and workroom as we examine evidence. He takes us
through the history of 20th century paleoanthropology, beginning with Raymond Dart's
isolated South African Taung fossil. Originally spurned by British academics, Dart's chief
advocate is one of the most colourful characters in the field, Robert Broom. In post-war
eastern Africa, first the Leakeys, then Don Johanson's Lucy brought fresh assessments of the
human family tree. Dating the fossil was the key issue - if you can accurately date the fossil,
you can place it in the human lineage with some accuracy. South African paleochronology,
however, is shown to be a dicey support. The fossils are often better, but their place in time is
easily, and readily, challenged.

Continuous disputes over dating and body plans due to inadequate evidence kept resolution
of these academic controversies unattainable. Berger's own analysis of hominid body
structure offers a solution. Johanson's Lucy, with her human-like proportions is pushed out
of the linear family tree with southern African progenitors assuming her place. Berger does
this skillfully, showing how arm/leg length ratios provide the key. His position is convincing
enough for most of us, but not sufficient for those with a stake in the consensus view. Tim
White [the Great White Shark], once considered a hero for deserting the Leakeys for
Johanson, appears here as a modern Torquemada directing an Inquisition against this
relocated Georgian.

Consensus, particularly in paleoanthropology, is a moving target, as Berger reminds us.
Whether Berger's analysis of the human lineage achieves a new consensus remains to be seen.
His proposal, which still rankles many, is that there are many branches in the tree, but many
of them proved sterile, producing no further offshoots. The picture left us is confusing, but
likely accurate. Berger's use of the term "thornbush" is innovative, imparting his comfort with
his adopted country. More importantly, it shows how inappropriate simplistic thinking is
when considering evolutionary processes.

While Berger was revising the human family tree, his own academic nest hosted a cowbird. A
measure of Berger's qualities is his succession to the post held by Phillip Tobias, one of the
pre-eminent figures in the discipline, at Witwatersrand University. Along with seeking funds
and other administrative duties, he fell foul of one the major figures in the field, Ron Clarke.
Clarke, whose career at Wits can only be labeled checkered. Berger's tale of his dealings with
Clarke and Tobias can only be called sordid. In a book of this nature, it's almost embarrassing
reading. A little search on the Web will bring up the relevant South African newspaper
accounts of the fray. The story has relevance, however, in buttressing Berger's role of South
Africa as humanity's point of origin.

It's not an academic exercise to read this, although another encounter with the term
"postcranial" may leave this reviewer gibbering. When an author starts rolling "curved lateral
condoyles" and "rounded semi-membranous detachments" in tibias [knee bones] past the reader,
it's time for some diagrams. Berger's target for this book seems as much his professional, and
distant, colleagues as it is for the rest of us. We're unlikely to challenge his conclusions, since
that's in the realm of the professional journals. His text is clear and informative. It's just that
we foot soldiers need a little graphic guidance.

To a large extent this is a personal account of Lee Berger's career. Dr. Berger leads a university department focused on human evolution at Wit in South Africa. The book includes a nice review of the current knowledge of human evolution with a focus on Austalopithicus. The current dogma has been that Lucy's species, or A.anamensis, is our ancestor. Lee Berger presents evidence and conjecture this may not be the case. There is review of what is and isn't known about the genus Homo and about archaic Homo sapiens. Dr. Berger presents his theory that modern man may have developed 130,000 years ago in South Africa. The politics of the community of scientist working on human evolution are discussed. One of the attitudes of the author is that he doesn't get stuck in dogma but acknowledges that our ancestral lineage is open for debate. This is an easy to read book. It was very enjoyable. This is one of the better books I have read on human evolution.

I do not have an acedemic background. As a human being curious about our origins, I am always on the lookout for books on this topic. The author is very considerate of its readers, acknowledging that not all have a PHD. The book offers insight into the scientific community's struggle to find a clear path to the modern human. Full of history, theories and political intrigue. Its simply fascinating. I'm inspired to read more.

This new contribution to the debate on human origins seems to me to be addressed to the general reader, rather than to the expert. It is very easy to read, and makes sense of the jumble of conflicting theories about the ancestors of humanity. Whether or not Berger's theories hold water will depend on future fossil discoveries. One of his most exciting revelations is the description of an apparently complete skeleton discovered at Sterkfontein under rather strange circumstances by Ron Clarke, that is in the process of being excavated.

This book is largely autobiographical, and provides some interesting (and controversial) insights into the weird and wonderful personalities who populate the world of paleoanthropology.

My main complaint is that the book has the sloppiest example of editing that I have ever seen, which is astounding in a National Geographic publication. Apart from the fact that it cries out for more and better illustrations - photographs and drawings - there are an unacceptably large number of typos. I counted at least ten places in which text was repeated or left out. And to use "gate" and "vegeterian" instead of "gait" and "vegetarian" curdles the blood.

I was looking forward to receiving this book, and I usually devour "human origins" books, but Berger's contribution to the genre is a bit dry and plodding. I think a good editor could have cleaned up the language and made it flow better. (I think it says something about the editing that the last line on page 40 is repeated as the first line on page 41.) The science appears to be correct, it's just the style that makes the book harder to read than it should be. This is surprising given that it is a National Geographic book, and National Geographic usually insists on clean and clear writing.

Dr. Berger has authored an excellent book for anyone interested in paleoanthropology. I enjoyed all the scientific discourse, all of which should be readily understandable for laymen, as well as the inside stories into the politics of paleoanthropology (although some of the stories are a bit shocking). Particularly I think we are indebted to Dr. Berger in bringing to life the hominid fossils of South Africa. The book clearly illustrates the continuing importance of A. Africanus, and gives probably long overdue credit to many of it's discoverers. Finally it gives a good general update on some of the most recent fossil discoveries and possible consequences. Highly recommended reading. I hope that Dr. Berger will keep us updated on the progress of the work also in the future.