Not just about Neandertals 
The best thing about this book is that it is not just about Neandertals or Human origins. It covers enough from peripheries of science and the humanities as well as detailed natural history to make it accessible and interesting to anyone who has the slightest interest in this confusing subject.Though Shreve identifies the complex issues allowing us to doubt everything, the book is far from confusing and there is an enormous amount of travel and biographical notes of the people he has met that Shreve has marshalled in. By all accounts this was an expensive and time consuming book to put together and almost no stone has been left unturned. I think the fascination with this topic is because it asks the big question - What makes us human? Fortunately, though many answers are offered, Shreve takes care not to make any dogmatic assertion and provides a balanced overview of all the ideas, key workers and key debates. As a student, I liked the way he discussed the basics of the biological species concept showing how difficult separating species can be at times, especially if using fossils. He also shows us how lots of ideas can be manufactured only to be holed by later workers or evidence. Most of the book is very fluid. My only criticism is the lack of more illustrations of neandertals - perhaps in colour and a lack of any detail on the classic illustration showing Ramapithecus leading to Cromagnon which has been shown so many times, though this famous picture is discussed. I think this book shows what science is not. It is not about a solution to the problem that you can believe and cling to. Rather, it is a provisional statement of current understanding and if it seems to explain things, all the better (speaking in the context of human origins). So many people and ideas are mentioned that this is true journalism, no holes barred, sharp, comical, witty and above all accessible. I thouroughly recommend it to anyone.
May 19, 2004 | 
