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Bernard A. Wood

Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction 1st Edition

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The recent discovery of the diminutive Homo floresiensis (nicknamed "the Hobbit") in Indonesia has sparked new interest in the study of human evolution. In this Very Short Introduction, renowned evolutionary scholar Bernard Wood traces the history of paleoanthropology from its beginnings in
the eighteenth century to today's latest fossil finds. Along the way we are introduced to the lively cast of characters, past and present, involved in evolutionary research. Although concentrating on the fossil evidence for human evolution, the book also covers the latest genetic evidence about
regional variations in the modern human genome that relate to our evolutionary history. Wood draws on over thirty years of experience to provide an insiders view of the field, and demonstrates that our understanding of human evolution is critically dependent on advances in related sciences such as
paleoclimatology, geochronology, systematics, genetics, and developmental biology. This is an ideal introduction for anyone interested in the origins and development of humankind.

ISBN-10

0192803603
ISBN-13

978-0192803603
Edition

1st
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

January 12, 2006
Language

English
Dimensions

6.7 x 4.4 x 0.4 inches
Print length

131 pages
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About the Author

Bernard Wood is Henry R. Luce Professor of Human Origins at George Washington University and the Smithsonian Institution.

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (January 12, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 131 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0192803603
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0192803603
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.7 x 4.4 x 0.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,977,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,595 in Genetics (Books)
- #3,773 in Biology & Life Sciences

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4.4 75 ratings

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Kerry Walters

Incredibly, painfully, boring

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2008

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Did you ever have a high school teacher or college professor who had the unhappy knack of making even the most exciting topics deadly boring the moment he or she began lecturing on them? I bet so. I know I did.

I ask this because struggling through Bernard Wood's Human Evolution took me back to those classes. There are few topics more intellectually exciting than the one Professor Wood takes on. There are few treatments of it more deadly. Readers who pick this book up expecting to read lively prose describing the search for hominid fossils in Africa and Asia will be unpleasantly surprised. Instead, what Wood gives us is a (mercifully short) treatise on methodology and taxonomy, with just enough brief accounts of field work to keep the reader plodding through to the end.

What Wood's written, in short, is a brief textbook, not a narrative intended for an educated lay audience. There are pages of charts outlining hominin taxa and comparing human and chimpanzee anatomical features. And there are lots of sentences like this one: "The shape and size of the true pelvis, combined with what can be extrapolated from adult brain sizes about the brain size of a H. ergaster neonate suggests that the head was small enough to be oriented transversely all the way through the birth canal, and thus it did not need to be rotated after negotiating the pelvic inlet" (86). Holy cow.

Look: I don't expect that every science writer will be a Loren Eiseley, Rachel Carson, or Stephen Hawking. But it would be nice if science writers who take a crack at the popular market would actually try to interest their readers. Use Wood's book as a quick and convenient taxonomic guide, to be consulted but not read straight through, and spend your time on more readable narratives such as (for example) Nicholas Wade's Before the Dawn, Ann Gibbons' The First Human, or Donald Johanson's books on Lucy.

33 people found this helpful

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Michael Valdivielso

Short, detailed and small.

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2006

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Human Evolution by Bernard Wood is just the facts and only the facts. At 131 pages this is all the updated information about human related fossils, up to the year 2005, and the debates about what they mean.

The book starts out explaining about the Tree Of Life, what fossils are, how they are found and how they are used as evidence. Everything is clear and crisp, Mr. Wood treats the reader to a lesson in paleoanthropology, without moving too swiftly but without talking down to the reader. Can be finished in a day or two, no problem.

Great for people new to the subject or as a small guide for those on the go.

36 people found this helpful

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BrianG

Good introduction

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2016

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This is a good brief overview of what science has revealed about human evolution, albeit a little dated now in light of the recent rapid growth of genetic research in this area.

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Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017

Good

Great book. Complemented really well the OLLI course

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2016

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Great book. Complemented really well the OLLI course, The Emergence of Man, taught by Prof. Geoffrey Thomas that
we took at FSU. An easy read and enjoyable.

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Libby R.

Human Evolution A Very Short Review

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2010

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I ordered this book in the evening, and received it two days later. The book looked like it had never been used. I hope this seller continues to offer items to sell. Will look to buy from them again.

One person found this helpful

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Pafoua

... don't believe in evolution but this book was an easy read with a good book layout

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2017

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I don't believe in evolution but this book was an easy read with a good book layout.

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2014

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Excellent review of the essentials of Human Evolution and the current proper classification of the lineage leading to humans.

2 people found this helpful

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Dr. H. A. Jones

The biology of human evolution

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2009

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Human Evolution: A very short introduction, by Bernard Wood, Oxford, 2005, 144 ff.

The biology of human evolution
By Howard A. Jones

Though this is another admirable publication in Oxford's Very Short Introduction series, generally intended for readership by non-specialists, the degree of biological detail here make this more suitable for undergraduate biologists with an interest in paleoanthropology. The author is himself a medically qualified paleoanthropologist, a Professor of Human Origins at the George Washington University in America, so there is much, perhaps necessarily, anatomical detail about the fossil human remains that have been unearthed.

After an introduction that takes us from biblical accounts of our origins, through the work of Vesalius, Lamarck, Darwin, Huxley, Lyell and Mendel, right up to Watson and Crick and the human genome project, we are treated to a discussion of the biological differentiation of humans (hominins) and panins, gorillas and orang-utans - our genetic similarities and anatomical differences.

There are details of oxygen isotope measurement as a guide to past climates; methods of dating fossils and the sediments or rocks in which they are found; and how the age and sex of hominins is determined from the skeletal fragments that anthropologists usually have to be content with. The author points out that while `modern humans have a substantial fossil record . . . the fossil record for chimpanzees [our genetically nearest animal relatives] is virtually non-existent.' So the story is largely one of intelligent piecing together of our ancestry from what remains there are.

It was Darwin who first suggested that, as we are probably related to the apes and they exist largely in Africa, this would be a good place to start looking for human remains. Modern biologists tell us that indeed we did, in the beginning, `come out of Africa'.

This is a well-written book full of fascinating, if at times a little overwhelming, detail. The book about Evolution in general by the Charlesworths in the same series is more accessible to the non-specialist.

Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK.

Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

4 people found this helpful

Gerund

A Very Short Introduction to Human Evolution

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 23, 2010

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These Short Introductions are a bit of a mixed bag. This one is absolutely excellent. It's well laid out with very clear chapters entitled:

Introduction
Finding our place
Fossil hominins: their discovery and context
Fossil hominins: analysis and interpretation
Early hominins: possible and probable
Archaic and transitional hominins
Pre-modern Homo
Modern Homo

Strangely, it has the same diagram of different hominins repeated three times in the book, each with with different titles. It seems to be a copy-editing error but is actually rather useful!

The writing is clear and lucid and a joy to read. It's always a great reading pleasure when you come across a factual author who can actually 'write'.

The author, Bernard Wood, has impeccable qualifications:
he is Professor of Human Origins at George Washington University and a Senior Scientist in the Human Origins Programme of the Smithsonian Institute. He is a medically qualified palaeoanthropologist and was on Richard Leakey's first expedition to Lake Rudolph in 1968 and has pursued research in the field ever since.

The book was published in 2005, so will need an update soon but, meanwhile, I highly recommend it as an introduction to a fascinating subject about which we know so little.

5 people found this helpful

Anthony K. Divey

A (short) first guide to human evolution

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2009

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If you're looking for a short and comprehensible guide to hominin evolution start here. This is an excellent guide to the bewildering array of species leading up to homo sapiens. What it doesn't do - and this point is clearly made - is look at hominin behaviour, but that's not really what I was after. The summary of theories surrounding 'Recent Out of Africa' (or 'Out of Africa 2') is also very clear.

4 people found this helpful

D. Crouch

Great introduction to human evolution

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

The fact that the author had to produce a relatively short book has probably been advantageous in this case. Research into human evolution is very complex and a constant stream of new evidence, plus differences of opinion amongst scientists produce an ever changing picture. But this book effectively offers a basic introduction to the first time reader on the subject, whilst recognising some areas where evidence is lacking or there are differing opinions amongst researchers. It is very easy to read and sticks to the most important information without wasting words. Recommended.

juliaben

Wonderful overview

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

I found this an excellent starter that sorts the bewilderingly huge number of human and pre-human species into just 4 main categories. Four is memorisable. You can refine your understanding later.
I normally like my science books to be totally up-to-date, and this is dated 2005, but I don't think the general outline of HE has changed in the meantime... Definitely recommend.

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