The Monkey in the Mirror: Essays on the Science of What Makes Us Human

by Tattersall, Ian

• ISBN13: 9780156027069
• ISBN10: 0156027062
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780544986954
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• More Book Details

Summary

Ian Tattersall is widely regarded as one of the rare eminent scientists who is also a graceful and engaging writer. In this extraordinary new work he attempts to answer the most controversial questions on human origins: What makes us so different? How did we get this way? How do we know? Guiding readers around the world and far into the past, Tattersall examines and explores evolutionary theory, a science based not on a finite set of conclusions drawn from overwhelming evidence, but rather our evolving effort to make sense out of a handful of incomplete fossil remains.Brimming with delightful stories and scientific wisdom, this exquisite book offers fresh insight into the fundamental questions of our origins--and our evolutionary future.

Author Biography

Ian Tattersall is curator of human evolution at the American Museum of Natural History, and the author of many books and articles. His most recent book, Becoming Human, won the distinguished W.W. Howells Prize of the American Anthropological Association. An expert on both fossil humans and lemurs, he has done fieldwork in places as varied as Madagascar, Yemen, and Vietnam. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
What's So Special about Science?	1	(28)
Evolution: Why So Misunderstood?	29	(27)
The Monkey in the Mirror	56	(23)
Human Evolution and the Art of Climbing Trees	79	(28)
The Enigmatic Neanderthals	107	(31)
How Did We Achieve Humanity?	138	(31)
Written in Our Genes?	169	(16)
Where Now?	185	(20)
Index	205