Customer Reviews

Not from the Apes: A History of Man's Origin and Evolution

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When I saw this book in a used book store, I was inclined to dismiss it as so much Creationist nonsense, given the fact that the first four words of the title were emphasized on the cover. Then I saw the author was Dr. Kurten, a renowned paleozoologist. I took a second look, and I'm glad I did.

Dr. Kurten shows, with the impeccable thoroughness and the clear, logical writing style that is his hallmark, that man and the anthropoid apes, such as the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan, seperated from a common ancestor over 12 million years ago, deep in the Miocene. He traces the history of Ramapithecus, an ape-like creature that lived in India, and shows that Ramapithecus and its descendants, the australopithecines, although simian in look, were actually hominids; the ancestors of man. Dr. Kurten's anatomical studies are copious and well-reasoned, and his proofs impressive in support of his theory.

Refreshingly, Dr. Kurten does not claim to have all of the answers, and, indeed, some of his material is now superseded by other findings, but the essential premise he chose remains valid. I was very impressed with this book, short though it was, and commend it to any student of anthropology or anatomy.

This is an helpful book if you want to understand the decent of man.
But he is not an expert in this field and he doesn't cover some major areas very well.
His title and subsequent text make you think that apes and men aren't directly related. But they are by all
rational interpretations of the fossil record. It is worth the
price as a paper back but is seriously dated.