The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution

by Ian Tattersall (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0195109818

ISBN-10: 0195109813

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The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution
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One of the most remarkable fossil finds in history occurred in Laetoli, Tanzania, in 1974, when anthropologist Andrew Hill (diving to the ground to avoid a lump of elephant dung thrown by a colleague) came face to face with a set of ancient footprints captured in stone--the earliest recorded
steps of our far-off human ancestors, some three million years old. Today we can see a recreation of the making of the Laetoli footprints at the American Museum of Natural History, in a stunning diorama which depicts two of our human forebears walking side by side through a snowy landscape of
volcanic ash. But how do we know what these three-million-year-old relatives looked like? How have we reconstructed the eons-long journey from our first ancient steps to where we stand today? In short, how do we know what we think we know about human evolution?
In The Fossil Trail, Ian Tattersall, the head of the Anthropology Department at the American Museum of Natural History, takes us on a sweeping tour of the study of human evolution, offering a colorful history of fossil discoveries and a revealing insider's look at how these finds have been
interpreted--and misinterpreted--through time. All the major figures and discoveries are here. We meet Lamarck and Cuvier and Darwin (we learn that Darwin's theory of evolution, though a bombshell, was very congenial to a Victorian ethos of progress), right up to modern theorists such as Niles
Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould. Tattersall describes Dubois's work in Java, the many discoveries in South Africa by pioneers such as Raymond Dart and Robert Broom, Louis and Mary Leakey's work at Olduvai Gorge, Don Johanson's famous discovery of "Lucy" (a 3.4 million-year-old female hominid, some
40% complete), and the more recent discovery of the "Turkana Boy," even more complete than "Lucy," and remarkably similar to modern human skeletons. He discusses the many techniques available to analyze finds, from fluorine analysis (developed in the 1950s, it exposed Piltdown as a hoax) and
radiocarbon dating to such modern techniques as electron spin resonance and the analysis of human mitochondrial DNA. He gives us a succinct picture of what we presently think our "family tree" looks like, with at least three genera and perhaps a dozen species through time (though he warns that this
greatly underestimates the actual diversity of hominids over the past two million or so years). And he paints a vivid, insider's portrait of paleoanthropology, the dogged work in the broiling sun, searching for a tooth, or a fractured corner of bone, amid stone litter and shadows, with no guarantee
of ever finding anything. And perhaps most important, Tattersall looks at all these great researchers and discoveries within the context of their social and scientific milleu, to reveal the insidious ways that the received wisdom can shape how we interpret fossil findings, that what we expect to
find colors our understanding of what we do find.
Refreshingly opinionated and vividly narrated, The Fossil Trail is the only book available to general readers that offers a full history of our study of human evolution. A fascinating story with intriguing turns along the way, this well-illustrated volume is essential reading for anyone curious
about our human origins.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This refreshingly opinionated book will have a lasting influence on the next generation of paleoanthropologists."--Nature

"Encapsulates the study of human evolution."--The Washington Post

"The richest and most comprehensive account to date of the thrilling quest to discover our ancestors....Superb."--Don Johanson, author of Ancestors: The Search for Our Human Origins and Lucy

About the Author

Ian Tattersall is Head of the Anthropology Department at the American Museum of Natural History, where he was Curator in Charge of the Hall of Human Biology and Evolution, which opened in 1993.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (January 30, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195109813
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195109818
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.25 x 0.76 x 6.13 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,119,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,150 in Biology of Fossils
- #10,078 in Anthropology (Books)
- #12,627 in General Anthropology

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Ian Tattersall

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Ian Tattersall, a Curator Emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is a paleoanthropologist and primate biologist of long experience. He has conducted fieldwork in places as diverse as Yemen, Vietnam, and Madagascar; and, besides being a prolific contributor to the technical literature, he has curated exhibits and written widely for the public on topics ranging from the natural history of wine, beer and spirits to the evolution of humankind and the origin of our unique human consciousness. His critically acclaimed popular books have been translated into a dozen languages, and include most recently "Understanding Race" and "Distilled: A Natural History of Spirits" (both with his colleague Rob De Salle), and "Understanding Human Evolution."

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MousterianLithics

Get ready for a fossil journey.

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2016

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After you have read several books on fossil discoveries and you think this is going to be another routine book you will be in for a surprise. The narrative is slightly advanced and it would help if you know a little about the subject, but it is a stimulating nevertheless. The illustrations are excellent but there is not enough of them. The bibliography is a mixture of both older references and newer ones. Tattersall at times gives his personal insights which adds flavor to the narrative. For those of us who find genetics confusing and boring there is a good explanation of cladistics.
To improve for flow it would help if there was an illustration of the Members at Swartskrans and other sites. But all-in-all it is a book that should be on the shelf of every paleoanthropologist.

3 people found this helpful

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John F. Gilligan

Paleoanthropology

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2020

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An excellent book covering the history of paleoanthropology to the present state of evolutionary findings regarding the origins of Homo sapiens. It's a totally encompassing book drawing on a number of scholars, their findings, and arguments for their interpretation. Well written, and plenty of fossil examples fright up to our own day.

It's an indispensable book for anyone interested in the origins of mankind.

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doc peterson

Detailed, complex but ultimately rewarding

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2004

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Ian Tattersall's _The Fossil Trail_ traces the evolution of scientific undestanding of human origins in exquisite detail and in a language that is understandable to the lay reader. The book is rich with scale diagrams of the fossil record of early hominids, presenting the various theories of human evolution from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

Because of the subject matter and the aim of the book, it is dense reading, and it clearly is not for everyone. Nonetheless it is a fascinating and rewarding book.

6 people found this helpful

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Marco

Informative

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2013

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Maybe it's just because I've read a lot of human origin books, but this book started out slow and rather redundant, but the last half of the book was extremely informative. Ian reaffirms the strife that exists between anthropologists, but in a much more polite manner than other authors.

What led me to purchase this book was an earlier purchase of Ian Tattersall's book 'Masters of the Planet: The Search for our Human Origins,' which remains one of my all-time favorite science books.

One person found this helpful

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Good Synopsis of Human Fossilology

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2014

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This is a very readable history of human paleontology. There's not much new information here, although it wasn't intended to present any. Tattersall gives an in-depth and unbiased account of the fossil record and the record of the fossils' discovery, laying out the timelines and the personalities involved. He recounts some amusing anecdotes and stories told by the fossil hunters and explains the sometimes bitter disputes over the interpretation of the finds. Altogether well researched (as one would expect given Tattersall's position) and well written book.

2 people found this helpful

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Astra

I love this book I just wish the Kindle version was ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2014

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I love this book I just wish the Kindle version was the newer version. I haven't seen a new copy of the book to compare with but the inside cover says its the 1996(?) version. I love reading Tattersall. If you get 'anthropology humor' this book will make you laugh. I wish he wasn't retired because I would love to study with him!!

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F S Frederick

Very good summation of a complex science

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2010

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I'm not sure why some people panned this book as boring. I enjoyed reading it and found it held my interest from beginning to end. Tattersall gives a really good overview of the complex and contentious field of human evolution. There are so many new fossils discovered since 1990, and still being discovered and described, that will make for more books like this. I read the 2009 edition.

3 people found this helpful

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S. Dickson

Wrong title

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2008

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I think this should have been called "How We CAME to Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution". It is more of a history of discoveries than discussion on conclusions based on those discoveries.
This is my first read in paleoanthropology and I found it a bit difficult. In some cases, discussion on historical hypothesis were glossed over where I felt they could have been elaborated. Although Tattersall comes across as intelligent, I found it to be a slow read due to both vocabulary and flow. Overall, not recommended as a pleasure read.

6 people found this helpful

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2nimm

ouvrage scientifique ancien, austère mais sérieux et documenté

Reviewed in France on November 29, 2013

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livre anglophone broché souple format moyen ancien (1995) consacré à la paléontologie humaine; après une courte préface l'auteur, anthropologue universitaire anglais, nous fait découvrir en 17 chapitres d'un texte précis et documenté illustré de gravures n&b, l'évolution de la lignée humaine; les scientifiques apprécieront cet ouvrage même s'il n'est plus à la pointe des découvertes; par contre le"s amateurs de beaux livres illustrés en couleur sur l'origine de l'homme le trouveront trop austère

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