1: In the Beginning
2: Early Human Evolution
3: Tectonic and Climate
4: Cradle of Humanity
5: Global Climate Change
6: Celestial Mechanics
7: African Climate Pulses
8: The Social Brain
9: Future of Humanity
10: The story so far
Further Reading
Mark Maslin (FRGS, FRSA) is a Professor of Climatology and
Environmental Sciences at University College London, and is
currently a Royal Society Industrial Fellow. He was the former
Director of the UCL Environment Institute and Head of the
Department of Geography, and in recent years has presented over 45
public talks, at the UK Space conference, Oxford, Cambridge, Tate
Modern, Royal Society of Medicine, British Museum, Natural History
Museum, Freshfields, Goldman
Sachs and both the Norwegian and UK Government. He has been
published in multiple journals, and is the author of Climate: A
Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2013), and Climate Change: A Very
Short
Introduction (OUP, 2014), now in its third editon.
This book offers far more than a palaeoanthropological cocktail
with a twist ... In synthesising the most recent research in
palaeoanthropology and giving the ecology of our ancestors a
climatological twist, Maslin has produced a book that is
fascinating, humbling and informative.
*Adrian Barnett, New Scientist*
Impressively in-depth and well-explained mix of encyclopaedic
information... There is an amazing amount of information packed
into this surprisingly slim book.
*Chris Fitch, Geographical*
Palaeoclimatologist Mark Maslin delves into deep time to trace
humanity's rise to geological hegemony. Examining early hominin
finds in East Africa, he spotlights three stages (bipedalism in
Australophithecus, a jump in brain size in Homo erectus and Homo
sapiens' arrival some 195,000 years ago) and the roles of climate
change, celestial mechanics and plate tectonics in their emergence.
Ultimately, he theorizes that 'climate pulses' in the Rift Valley,
in which hyper-arid conditions alternated with the formation of
vast lakes, helped to drive the evolution of the big hominin
brain.
*Nature*
Anyone who reads The Cradle of Humanity will certainly be
enlightened about this awe-inspiring journey.
*Andrew Robinson, Current World Archaeology*
Understanding the emergence of our species from the unique
landscapes of East Africa is one of the great scientific
challenges. Mark Maslin takes us on an exhilarating intellectual
journey, encompassing geology, astronomy, climate science and
evolutionary biology, to argue that the unique landscape and
ever-changing climate of the East African Rift Valley were
instrumental in catalysing the emergence of a civilisation on our
planet. I'm left with a dizzying feeling of our good fortune to be
here at all, and a powerful sense of our responsibility, as Maslin
notes, to earn our species name: "Wise"."
*Professor Brian Cox*
As we confront rapid, major changes in the earth's climate today,
it is imperative we understand how past climate change made us who
we are. This fast-paced book vividly tells the story of how and why
shifting environments have been driving human evolution ever since
our earliest beginnings in Africa, and why those changes
matter.
*Daniel E Lieberman, Harvard University, author of Story of the
Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease*
An interesting and novel take on the subject ... a superb and
highly recommended book that convincingly argues how the
happenstance conditions in East Africa shaped us and our
forebears.
*Leon Vlieger, NHBS*
A powerful, gripping account of how the dynamic earth shaped human
evolution... With impressive ease, Maslin packs a tremendous amount
of knowledge into a flowing narrative, making the point that
special conditions for a number of species of tropical apes on the
African continent eventually turned out to be luck... A tour de
force through Earth's history and a timely reminder of just how
lucky we are to be here at all.
*Peter C. Kjærgaard, Director and Professor, Natural History Museum
of Denmark*
In this tale of mountains, monsoons, and meteorites, climate and
ocean currents, Maslin masterfully puts human evolution into
context, and shows how the earth and its environments have shaped
us.
*Professor Alice Roberts, anthropologist, author, and broadcaster*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
