The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors [Hardcover]

Ann Gibbons (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 18, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0385512260 | ISBN-13: 978-0385512268 | Edition: annotated edition

This dynamic chronicle of the race to find the “missing links” between humans and apes transports readers into the highly competitive world of fossil hunting and into the lives of the ambitious scientists intent on pinpointing the dawn of humankind.
 
The quest to find where and when the earliest human ancestors first appeared is one of the most exciting and challenging of all scientific pursuits. The First Human is the story of four international teams obsessed with solving the mystery of human evolution and of the intense rivalries that propel them.
 
An award-winning science writer, Ann Gibbons introduces the various maverick fossil hunters and describes their most significant discoveries in Africa. There is Tim White, the irreverent and brilliant Californian whose team discovered the partial skeleton of a primate that lived more than 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia. If White can prove that it was hominid—an ancestor of humans and not of chimpanzees or other great apes—he can lay claim to discovering the oldest known member of the human family. As White painstakingly prepares the bones, the French paleontologist Michel Brunet comes forth with another, even more startling find. Well known for his work in the most remote and hostile locations, Brunet and his team uncover a stunning skull in Chad that could set the date of the beginnings of humankind to almost seven million years ago. Two other groups—one led by the zoologist Meave Leakey, the other by the British geologist Martin Pickford and his partner, Brigitte Senut, a French paleontologist—enter the race with landmark discoveries of other fossils vying for the status of the first human ancestor.
 
Through scrupulous research and vivid first-person reporting, The First Human takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the intense challenges of fossil hunting on a grand competitive scale.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

In The First Human, Gibbons provides the first popular account of these intriguing discoveries and of rivalry and collaboration among the discoverers. An engrossing, fast-paced read, her story unfolds in many remote and rugged locales, from the Middle Awash of Ethiopia to the Tugen Hills of Kenya and the Djurab Desert of Chad. Gibbons tells of hard-driven, dedicated teams contending with extreme heat, blowing sand, illness and other hazards of fieldwork in Africa, where success demands years, or decades, of persistence. After all, hominids may not have been common creatures in their day, and only fortuitous circumstances of gentle, rapid burial in suitable sediments kept a carcass from being a carnivore’s meal, allowing it perchance to fossilize. Gibbons seems as interested—if not more so—in personalities and politics as in the identities and significance of her protagonists’ fossils. She is not the first to recognize that conflict as well as camaraderie accompanies the quest for human origins, and the scientists she portrays do possess the stuff of dramatic characters. There is the meticulous, mercurial paleontologist Tim White, co-leader of an international team with an unparalleled track record of spectacular discoveries, from the oldest modern human skull to one of the oldest human ancestors. And zoologist Meave Leakey, who has stepped out from the shadow of the most famous surname in human origins research to make singular contributions of her own. And Michel Brunet, a French expert on ancient hoofed mammals, inspired by Charles Darwin and Louis Leakey to pursue hominids. Brunet bucked the odds by not looking for fossils in the celebrated cradle of humankind, East Africa’s Rift Valley. He went to Chad, which hinted at its human fossil potential as early as 1961. Another hominid would not come to light there until 1995, but Brunet’s team found that australopithecine jawbone and then explored much older sites. In 2001 a Chadian student on Brunet’steam unearthed the cranium nicknamed "Toumaï." Formally named Sahelan-thropus tchadensis, it is currently the oldest known hominid skull and pushes the emergence of our evolutionary line as far back as seven million years ago—as Gibbons writes, "so ancient that Brunet said that Toumaï could ‘touch with its finger’ the last ancestor shared by humans and chimpanzees."

Blake Edgar is a science editor and writer. He is co-author of From Lucy to Language, forthcoming in a revised edition from Simon & Schuster, and of The Dawn of Human Culture (John Wiley & Sons, 2002).

From Booklist

A writer for Science magazine, Gibbons explains what paleoanthropologists have been doing over the past 15 years: competing, feuding, and making dramatic discoveries. Anchoring her narrative to the anatomy that is the foundation of physical anthropology, Gibbons intentionally emphasizes the personalities involved. Leakeyesque fame is one unspoken prize in field research on human origins, and several scientists acknowledge here their youthful inspiration by Louis and Mary Leakey's careers. One was Don Johanson, celebrated for the "Lucy" fossil discovered in 1974 that reigned temporarily as the oldest human ancestor. From the state of scientific affairs at that time, Gibbons' narrative drives forward the hunt since 1990 for a hominid ancestral to Lucy. Amid the particulars of newly excavated fossils, which include a spectacular skull from Chad that provisionally is the oldest human progenitor at six or seven million years old, Gibbons pointedly dramatizes the field's territorial attitudes toward fossils. Science in the flesh is ever popular, and Gibbons' successful debut marks her as a writer to watch. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; annotated edition edition (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385512260
• ISBN-13: 978-0385512268
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,608,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Bones of Contention" [updated] ** July 29, 2006

By Stephen A. Haines HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If this book is any indication, palaeoanthropology needs new electives in its curriculum. A course in "Field Combat Tactics" appears useful, while "The Intricacies of Site Permits" seems almost essential - perhaps a requirement. Ann Gibbons may not be certified as a combat correspondent, but she does a fine job of narrating the course anthropology has taken in seeking the "first human" and the conflicts that have arisen over the findings. What is notable about the strife among the members of that community is that Roger Lewin seemed to have covered it in "Bones of Contention" in 1987. Things appear to have heated up instead of calming down.

Opening with an account of French scholar Michel Brunet's work in the desert of Chad, Gibbons explains what's involved in finding human fossils. Darwin, she reminds us, suggested human origins lay in Africa. This idea challenged the received wisdom of Asia being the source of humanity. Gibbons' account of how ideas about human origins became established, challenged and regularly overturned makes gripping reading. She notes that Don Johanson's "Lucy", a pivotal find in tracing the human lineage, held primacy for many years. Lucy's age and location seemed indicative, granting her direct ancestry to modern humans and pinpointing the upper Rift Valley as humanity's starting point. Brunet, among others, has doubts about this scenario. It was too simple, and simple answers have no place in human evolution.

From Piltdown to Pithecanthropus, Gibbons clearly depicts the various ideas, their promoters and their resolution that have occurred during the years. Fossil hunters have roamed over Africa's wild landscapes seeking clues.... They are scattered and rarely definitive, usually providing only tantalising and incomplete bits of information. Lucy herself was but 40% complete [if you pair the bones, 20% if you count them against the total], while Nariokotome Boy had 80% of his skeleton retrieved. Gibbons explains why certain bones have importance in determining if a fossil indicates it's a hominid, while others provide clues to environmental conditions when the creature lived. Diet, activity, and other hints can be derived, but the analytical task is arduous. Almost as difficult as the field retrievals themselves.

The competition to find the "first human" is sometimes intense. Finding the fossil is tough enough, with searchers crawling over the ground like penitent supplicants. Getting to the site is more than simply boarding a 4 X 4 or camel train. Since the searchers are mostly Europeans or North Americans, the issue of permits to dig arises early. These often require months of negotiation, sometimes with money changing hands to facilitate the process. Abandoned sites or lapsed permits may require additional resolution. In at least one case, weapons were in evidence. What more could shatter the stereotype of the bumbling academic unable to deal with the "real world"?

The conflicts and contentions are slowly being resolved. "Lucy", once firmly lodged on the track leading to modern humans, is now on a side track. New finds, some not even clearly bipedal, let alone proto-human, need corroborating fossils. The recent discoveries have emerged almost too rapidly to identify or classify them. "Orrorin tugensis", or "Millennium Man" as he was mis-named for having been unearthed in 2000 C.E., triggered a major media event. The label "Our Newest Oldest Ancestor" applied to the find implied that there might be more to come. Such was the case when Michel Brunet's team, working in Chad, far from the Rift Valley, produced "Toumai". This unexpected fossil has become the actual "newest oldest" clocking in at about 6 - 7 million years old. As with all palaeoanthropologists, Brunet isn't satisfied with this revolutionary discovery. He is headed north, into Libya, to see if the Okavango Delta might prove the "Garden of Eden" for ancient humanity. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

** with apologies to Roger Lewin Read more ›

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read! December 5, 2006

By Scott A. Blumenthal

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a student of paleoanthropology, I was slightly wary of reading another popular account of fossil hunting in Africa. After finishing "The First Human," however, I can say with certainty that not only did Ann Gibbons do her homework, but that she was able to deftly weave together both the science and the politics in one of the most fascinating narratives I've read in some time. One really begins to understand both the hardship of paleoanthropological fieldwork and the thrill of discovery. But that of course is only the beginning. Her descriptions of the ensuing scientific cross-fire, often tainted by personal and political conflict, are clear and engaging. All in all, a well-written and up-to-date chronicle of the science of human origins.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars This book could have been more May 7, 2006

By Ursiform TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is really the story of a few teams looking for "breakthrough" early hominid fossils. As such it is episodic, and fails to give a broad picture of what has been learned about human evolution how it was learned. While generally well written and up to date, the concept of the book prevents it from being either a good overview of "The First Humans" or a compelling story. Past books written by paleoanthropologists themselves (Leakey, Johanson, Falk, and Shipman come to mind) have both explained more science and displayed far more passion for the quest, but at the cost of being expressions of one person's viewpoint rather than an attempt to deal with the subject objectively. It's been several years since I've found a really compelling book on this subject, so this one may be as good a choice as any for an up to date popular book. But it would be nice to see some more "insider" books hit the shelves with some real passion!

56 of 69 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read but...... April 21, 2006

By Robert Busko TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

First of all, let me say that I enjoyed reading The First Human. I thought Ann Gibbons managed to do a good job sifting through the newest material in the field of paleoanthropology. However, as with most areas of science, by the time new discoveries make it into a book the information has become passe to those most interested in it.

I thought Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade was more cutting edge than The First Human and made more solid connections. Gibbons book explores a great deal about the research being conducted, what discoveries have been made in the last decade and what they mean. Some of this information is very interesting. She also honestly reports on the researchers pushing the envelope on what we know about our ancestors. A few of them are just difficult, spoiled and weird. In fact, a thought that kept creeping into my head as I read The First Human is that I'm not sure evolution is working out. Humankind, if judged by some of the characters included in Gibbons book makes one wonder. Maybe the monkies new something we didn't when they got off the evolutionary escalator.

Gibbon's looks at the continuing race to find the oldest human ancestor. To the scientist who makes the discovery goes international fame and perhaps riches as well. And it is this prize that drives the researchers efforts and perhaps makes them so strange and difficult.

I highly recommend The First Human. Ann Gibbon's style of writing is great and she does manage to lace together a wonderful read.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Where's the Passion and Mystery? May 11, 2006

By Brian Hann

Format:Hardcover

Ann Gibbons has covered ongoing developments in paleoanthropology for Science magazine for the past ten years. She possesses an intimate knowledge of both the science and personalities of the field. She also has an ability to explain scientific information so that a lay reader can clearly comprehend it.

For all that, Gibbons is not a great storyteller. She does humanize and enliven this tale of scientific discovery by providing us with behind-the-scenes accounts of the egos and petty feuds of paleoanthropology. But there's little sense of suspense or drama (or even humor) here.

She mentions, for example, that Louis Leakey searched for two decades before discovering anything notable. She doesn't tell us what drove Leakey on this seemingly quixotic quest. Or what drives other paleoanthropologists to suffer inhospitable, and sometimes dangerous, conditions for years just to find a few hominid molars or - if they are lucky - the fragment of an ancient skull or femur. What mysteries haunt these scientists? What passions drive them? And what of our distant forbearers? Gibbons gives us surprisingly little information about what it might have been like to be a hominid 3 or 6 million years ago.

The book could have also benefited from illustrations. For example, when Gibbons discussed the dentition of new discoveries - which she did frequently - I wish I could have referenced photos or diagrams to better understand why the discoverers were excited, or not. Several species of hominids are discussed in the book and I would have understood them much better if I could have seen the similarities and differences with my own eyes.

All-in-all, not a bad book. But not a great one either. Let's call it 3.5 stars.