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Roger Lewin

Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human Paperback – October 1, 1993

by Richard E. Leakey (Author), Roger Lewin (Contributor)

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Richard Leakey's personal account of his fossil hunting and landmark discoveries at Lake Turkana, his reassessment of human prehistory based on new evidence and analytic techniques, and his profound pondering of how we became "human" and what being "human" really means.

Print length

432 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Anchor
Publication date

October 1, 1993
Dimensions

5.93 x 0.93 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0385467923
ISBN-13

978-0385467926
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Famed paleoanthropologist Leakey relates an intellectual odyssey, describing his discoveries of human origins and his reflections on the nature of humanity. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Richard Leakey's personal account of his fossil hunting and landmark discoveries at Lake Turkana, his reassessment of human prehistory based on new evidence and analytic techniques, and his profound pondering of how we became "human" and what being "human" really means.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor; Reprint edition (October 1, 1993)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385467923
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385467926
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.03 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.93 x 0.93 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,189 in Biology of Mammals
- #2,346 in General Anthropology
- #2,516 in History of Civilization & Culture

Customer Reviews:
41 ratings

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DP

Good Luck Putting It Down

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017

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Read this in high school years ago and recently had been trying to find it again. Glad I decided to check Amazon-I've had to force myself to put it down. Leakey did an amazing job with this book. 5 stars and would recommend this!

2 people found this helpful

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oscar mc donald

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2017

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great

One person found this helpful

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E. King

Nice ideas...difficult reading

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2004

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I almost gave this book 3 stars for it's difficult narrative style, but that would have taken away from the fact that it is full of great ideas. Lots of photos and illustrations cut through the slow moments. More info on the mitochondrial hypothesis would have been nice also. Still a great read all in all.

5 people found this helpful

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Chad M

Early humans were primitive compared to today's people, but were much smarter than chimpanzees

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2021

The evolution and living patterns of early humans near lakes and rivers further validates the vital role of these resources and ecosystems. Anthropologists find that hominids lived in bands of about 100 to 200 individuals and were constantly roving about and looking for food, water, and shelter. While the mental capacity of early humans was dramatically different they still were much smarter than chimpanzees. Their lack of any kind of modern culture meant that when they got sick or disabled they really didn't know why this was happening. The fossil record shows instances of good nutrition but also injuries and malnutrition. The co-evolution of early humans and ecosystems has been studied and is now well understood.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

LEAKEY’S FINAL BOOK ON HUMAN ORIGINS

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2014

Richard Leakey also wrote Origins , People of the Lake: Mankind and Its Beginnings , The Making of Mankind , Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures , etc. Coauthor Roger Lewin (born 1944) is a British science writer, who wrote for "Science" magazine for ten years as News Editor; he has written other books such as Bones of Contention: Controversies in the Search for Human Origins , and Principles of Human Evolution . [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the 375-page hardcover edition.]

He wrote in the Prologue to this 1992 book, "as a youth I fiercely wanted my independence and desperately fought to be out of my parents' shadow. I was drawn to the search for beginnings... Long after I became involved in fossil hunting, but while my father and I were still clashing antlers, I came across a manuscript of a lecture he had given... One sentence arrested my attention: 'The past is the key to our future.' ... it expressed my own conviction completely... had i unconsciously absorbed it from him? I doubt the latter, because as a boy I was not much interested in what he was doing. My father was religious, although not in the conventional sense; I am not. Yet apparently we had come to the same numinous point. It was a poignant moment for me..." (Pg. xiv-xv)

He observes about the fossils found by Dubois, "It is interesting and instructive that a single set of fossils could provoke such contradictory expert opinion. Fossil anatomy can be extremely difficult to interpret, especially when it is fragmentary, as it so often is. People's expectations, their scientific preconceptions, influence their judgments. All scientists work from some kind of theoretical framework and interpret evidence in its light. Weak evidence can often be made to fit such a framework, whatever its form. I've seen that happen many times in paleoanthropology today." (Pg. 51)

He says about Donald Johanson, "About a decade ago our personal and professional relationship began to deteriorate, for reasons I consider best not discussed publicly. One manifestation of the eroding relationship, however, was that, when reporters spotted an opportunity for a 'good personality story,' they frequently set up Don and me in opposition, often where no real confrontation existed..." (Pg. 98)

He argues, "I challenge the notion that humanness arose very rapidly and very late in our evolution. I suspect that this extreme position has been adopted because of a desire to have ideas accepted in an unusual intellectual climate, an unconscious but powerful process. Many people believe that humans are so different from the rest of the animal world, they cannot accept the idea that we are a product of evolution, just like other species... Much more reasonable, it seems to me... is the notion that qualities as complex as consciousness, morality, and ethics developed over a long period of time in our history." (Pg. 199) Later, he adds, "In a sense, proto-human culture is not only a product of our ancestors' behavior, it is also part of the selection pressure that drives further evolution." (Pg. 214)

He says, "Albert Einstein once quipped that he was interested in finding out 'if God had any choice in creating the universe the way he did.' In the same vein, I would phrase my quest as finding out what plans, if any, God had for Homo sapiens." (Pg. 342) Later, he adds, "To answer my earlier question, God surely had no plans for Homo sapiens, and could not even have predicted that such a species would ever arise." (Pg. 349) He concludes on the note, "I expect to continue my involvement in wildlife conservation for some years, but I may never again be as involved as I once was in the search for human ancestors. The journey of discovery has taken me to new territories, territories from which the place of Homo sapiens in the universe of things is more clearly perceived." (Pg. 359-360)

This is an excellent book, that will be of great interest to anyone studying the matter of human origins.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

LEAKEY'S FINAL BOOK ON HUMAN ORIGINS

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2014

Richard Leakey also wrote Origins , People of the Lake: Mankind and Its Beginnings , The Making of Mankind , Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures , etc. Coauthor Roger Lewin (born 1944) is a British science writer, who wrote for "Science" magazine for ten years as News Editor; he has written other books such as Bones of Contention: Controversies in the Search for Human Origins , and Principles of Human Evolution .

He wrote in the Prologue to this 1992 book, "as a youth I fiercely wanted my independence and desperately fought to be out of my parents' shadow. I was drawn to the search for beginnings... Long after I became involved in fossil hunting, but while my father and I were still clashing antlers, I came across a manuscript of a lecture he had given... One sentence arrested my attention: 'The past is the key to our future.' ... it expressed my own conviction completely... had i unconsciously absorbed it from him? I doubt the latter, because as a boy I was not much interested in what he was doing. My father was religious, although not in the conventional sense; I am not. Yet apparently we had come to the same numinous point. It was a poignant moment for me..." (Pg. xiv-xv)

He observes about the fossils found by Dubois, "It is interesting and instructive that a single set of fossils could provoke such contradictory expert opinion. Fossil anatomy can be extremely difficult to interpret, especially when it is fragmentary, as it so often is. People's expectations, their scientific preconceptions, influence their judgments. All scientists work from some kind of theoretical framework and interpret evidence in its light. Weak evidence can often be made to fit such a framework, whatever its form. I've seen that happen many times in paleoanthropology today." (Pg. 51)

He says about Donald Johanson, "About a decade ago our personal and professional relationship began to deteriorate, for reasons I consider best not discussed publicly. One manifestation of the eroding relationship, however, was that, when reporters spotted an opportunity for a 'good personality story,' they frequently set up Don and me in opposition, often where no real confrontation existed..." (Pg. 98)

He argues, "I challenge the notion that humanness arose very rapidly and very late in our evolution. I suspect that this extreme position has been adopted because of a desire to have ideas accepted in an unusual intellectual climate, an unconscious but powerful process. Many people believe that humans are so different from the rest of the animal world, they cannot accept the idea that we are a product of evolution, just like other species... Much more reasonable, it seems to me... is the notion that qualities as complex as consciousness, morality, and ethics developed over a long period of time in our history." (Pg. 199) Later, he adds, "In a sense, proto-human culture is not only a product of our ancestors' behavior, it is also part of the selection pressure that drives further evolution." (Pg. 214)

He says, "Albert Einstein once quipped that he was interested in finding out 'if God had any choice in creating the universe the way he did.' In the same vein, I would phrase my quest as finding out what plans, if any, God had for Homo sapiens." (Pg. 342) Later, he adds, "To answer my earlier question, God surely had no plans for Homo sapiens, and could not even have predicted that such a species would ever arise." (Pg. 349) He concludes on the note, "I expect to continue my involvement in wildlife conservation for some years, but I may never again be as involved as I once was in the search for human ancestors. The journey of discovery has taken me to new territories, territories from which the place of Homo sapiens in the universe of things is more clearly perceived." (Pg. 359-360)

This is an excellent book, that will be of great interest to anyone studying the matter of human origins.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

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Tze Tshen LIM

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2017

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Satisfied. Good product.

Macninetynine

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2017

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Book condition as indicated.

Guy Pierre Poulin

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2017

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A must in anthropologue!

John L.

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 29, 2016

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Thanks

Sassafras

Mankind Arising.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2017

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A fascinating account of how ape-like hominids evolved into humans - both physically and mentally - by one of the world's most famous paleo-anthropologists.

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