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Lee R. Berger

In the Footsteps of Eve: The Mystery of Human Origins (Adventure Press) Hardcover – June 1, 2000

by Lee R. Berger (Author), Brett Hilton-Barber (Author)

32 ratings

Part of: Adventure Press (17 books)

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Argues that the discovery of one hundred thousand-year-old fossilized human footprints places the origin of human beings in southern Africa instead of the previously postulated eastern Africa.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

National Geographic
Publication date

June 1, 2000
Dimensions

6.42 x 1.01 x 9.46 inches
ISBN-10

0792276825
ISBN-13

978-0792276821
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Where did we come from? Though it's been fairly well settled that our species was born in Africa, the debate still rages over our hometown. In the Footsteps of Eve: The Mystery of Human Origins is a beautifully written argument in favor of the southern end of the continent rather than the eastern locations more popular among paleoanthropologists. Author Lee R. Berger's discovery and analysis of 117,000-year-old fossilized footprints of modern humans in South Africa, as well as a wealth of other fossils and artifacts, point to a speciation event in the unique ecosystem found along the Cape. His tells his story lyrically, and the rich descriptions of his finds and reconstructions of past events conjure strong imagery in the reader's mind; unfortunately, the book must rely on these descriptions since illustrations are sparse. Using clear, careful language, Berger explains the differing theories of recent human evolution, how his differs from the Leakey-Johansen model cradling H. sapiens near the Horn of Africa, and where the argument stands as of his writing in early 2000. Capturing the excitement of fossil hunting, the frustration of challenging established authority, and the sheer delight of scientific pursuit, In the Footsteps of Eve finds the mystery of life in ancient dust and rocks. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

Popular books on human evolution abound. Berger, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, enters this competitive field with an engaging volume that discusses the fossils every bit as much as the scientists who discover them and interpret their meanings. Scientifically, Berger stakes out controversial new territory in claiming that the prevalent hypothesis that humans first arose in East Africa is false. Instead, he argues that the evidence points to South Africa as the original birthplace of our species. Furthermore, he asserts that Lucy, the famous fossil long thought to be one of our ancestors, is instead a member of a species on a terminal side branch of the evolutionary tree. While the average reader is in no position to determine whether Berger's views are correct, the information he presents is comprehensive and accessible. Berger also impressively demonstrates how, in the highly competitive field of human origins, large hypotheses based on small pieces of evidence can arise from preconceived biases as much as compelling data. Although his writing is occasionally clumsy and he casts himself in a larger role than his accomplishments warrant to date, Berger offers a great deal of absorbing material in this first-person account; this book is sure to entice those interested in human origins. B&w photos throughout. 6-city author tour. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ National Geographic (June 1, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0792276825
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0792276821
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.49 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.42 x 1.01 x 9.46 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,303,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #934 in Physical Anthropology (Books)
- #1,760 in Genetics (Books)
- #8,800 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)

Customer Reviews:
32 ratings

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About the author

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Lee R. Berger

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Prof. Lee R Berger FRSSaf ASSAf is a Research Professor in Human Evolution and the Public Understanding of Science in the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and an Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and the Explorers Club and is a Member of the South African Academy of Sciences. He discovered the site of Malapa in 2008, and is the discoverer of the new species of early human ancestor Australopithecus sediba. He also was Principal Scientific Director of the Rising Star Expedition in 2013 which recovered the new species of early hominid Homo naledi.

Berger, an award-winning researcher, author and speaker is the recipient of the Friedel Sellschop Award for Young Researchers, the Golden Plate of the Academy of Achievement, and the National Geographic Society's first Prize for Research and Exploration. His work has been the recipient of Discover's top 100 Science Stories of the year on several occasions and he serves on the Senior Advisory Board of the Global Young Academy of Sciences. His work has been featured in National Geographic, Time and Scientific American. He was named the National Geographic Society's Rolex Explorer of the Year in 2016 and was named one of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015.

He has written numerous books and more than 200 popular articles and academic articles. He has appeared in dozens of television documentaries and is a regular commentator on evolution and palaeontology. An acclaimed speaker, he has delivered invited lectures to hundreds of corporate, government and other prestigious organizations, including the World Summit for Sustainable Development, the Royal Geographic Society, the Time, Fortune, CNN Global Forum, the Young Presidents Organization and the National Geographic Society.

He graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1989 and received his PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1994, and his Doctorate of Science in 2014. Lee is an Eagle Scout, and Boy Scout Honor Medal winner and has been named a Distinguished Eagle Scout.

He is an avid Diver and PADI Divemaster.

Customer reviews

5 star		63%
4 star		31%
3 star		3%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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stephi

Eve

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

Lee Berger has done a great review of the history of human origins in South Africa. In his discussion, he has included some of the critics of those who disagree with him. Lee, made this book to be readable to the general audience. He paints a picture of what South Africa would looked like in 170,000 or more years ago. I recommend anyone who wants to know about the human origins to read this book first.

The only problem is the book format. Whoever formatted the book did a lousy job. There are some words that were misspell and sentences that were repeated from the previous page to the next page. This is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars.

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Gordon R. Durand

Misprinted first edition

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

The hardcover copy I have (first printing, I assume) has a number of misprinted pages.

The line at the bottom of page 173 is duplicated at the top of page 174, the line at the bottom of page 175 is duplicated at the top of 176, the line at the bottom of page 177 is duplicated at the top of 178, and so on. There are more. Duplicate lines are bad enough, but between pages 174 and 175 a line has been left out. The same has been done between pages 176 and 177, and between pages 178 and 179-- missing lines that can only be guessed at.

The whole chapter is difficult to read. Good story, though.

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

I found this book to be well written, in complete contrast to a previous reviewer who seems to not have actually read the book! In fact, the scathing review was so powerfully negative, that I was compelled to try the book just to see how bad it could be!!! What a surprise, the book was excellent... There is one flaw, a repeated sentence on page 40, but other than that, I cannot find any other edit errors at all... The previous reviewer appears to have a personal vendetta against the author.

I highly recommend this book !!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

SOOOOOOOO FASCINATING!!!!
Makes me want to go back to school, get my degree and beg and plead my way onto Dr. Berger's dig site!!!

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

Another great and informative dose of Lee Berger. His works are knowledgeable, informative and logical period a great book

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Edward Nikicicz

These little apes were our ancestors.

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2002

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This book brings closer to our imagination the Australopithecs and other ape-like creatures that were our ancestors. A job well done! An honest book as well, as there are many secrets still to be unveiled.

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GTO

Just the book I was looking for.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2012

Berger, a paleoanthropologist working in South Africa, provides an amazingly honest history of the fossil records found in Africa in support of the evolution of man. It is all here: the gaps, the egos, the deceptions. I have been looking for a book that would simply state what was known about human evolution, not trying to persuade the reader one way or the other about how irrefutable the facts are. The author assumes there is enough evidence to back human evolution, though he does believe the model will change over time as more evidence is found. What I found compelling was how little solid evidence there is and the egos that control the flow of information. Berger paints a bleak picture of people being pressured to find "significant" fossils to keep funding coming. He shows how much disagreement there is about each finding among this small group of scientists that control the information coming out of Africa. He also recounts an amazing incident where he is strong armed, in a scene right out of The Godfather, into changing his description of a bone by a group of scientist that included Tim "Great White Shark" White, one of the two discoverers of the Lucy fossils. This book will open your eyes to how "un-pure" this science really is.

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Lisa

Interesting and engaging but needs better proofreading

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2012

The story of hunting for human origins; not so much a general overview of human origin, it is primarily focused on the earliest time period, and on a few species and their relationship. But much more than that, it's a story of the processes and politics and personalities of fossil hunting in Africa. As a layperson, I didn't entirely follow the species relationships and geographical arguments, but the book was very illuminating about what it's like to do this work. I appreciate the author's skill at explaining what we don't know and why we don't know it, and the reasons why some of these things are so difficult to be sure about.

But I nearly put the book down on page 19 when he claims that humans and chimps are more closely related then dogs and wolves. This is not true, and it's hard to give credence to books that have such mistakes. It makes more sense as a typo than something said intentionally, and there are indeed a lot of typos in the book. It says a lot that it came back up to get 4 stars after that...

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Amazon Customer

Hugely enjoyable read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Recently viewed a tv documentary detailing Dr Bergers discovery of a rich fossil deposit in South Africa. His jovial and easy to understand descriptive explanations of this fantastic find, led me to his earlier work and the general public aimed " in the footsteps of Eve". Referencing his own research and that of others in his field, Dr. Berger paints a fascinating picture of our early beginnings with ease. Hugely enjoyable, informative and genuinely a " page turner".

2nimm

ouvrage de rélexions scientifiques passionnant mais austère

Reviewed in France on March 25, 2012

Verified Purchase

livre anglophone relié rigide format moyen récent (2000) consacré à la paléoanthropologie; après 15 pages d'introduction, l'ouvrage développe une théorie de l'origine sud-africaine de notre espèce en 13 chapitres au style volontairement accessible pour le lecteur non scientifique:
n°1: premiers pas (29 pages)
n°2: appel de l'afrique (23p)
n°3: terres inconnues (33p)
n°4: east side story (21p)
n°5: expertise de fossiles (28p)
n°6: massacre de vaches sacrées (24p)
n°7: longs bras, jambes courtes (24p)
n°8: féflexe rotulien (24p)
n°9: hominidés vivants (14p)
n°10: squelettes dans le placard (32p)
n°11: une énigme qui résiste (18p)
n°12: les traces de pas d'Eve (26p)
n°13: derniers pas (10p)
illustration par quelques rares schémas, gravures et photos n&b; index et bibliographie;
ce livre de réflexions scientifico-philosophique sérieux et agréable à lire, captivera tous les passionnés des origines de l'humanité; malgré son iconographie déficiente, c'est un ouvrage qu'il faut avoir absolument dans sa bibliothèque

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