by Bernard Wood

Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction

 © by Bernard Wood

This Very Short Introduction traces the history of paleoanthropology from its beginnings in the eighteenth century to the latest fossil finds. Although concentrating on the fossil evidence for human evolution, it also covers the latest genetic evidence about regional variations in the modern human genome that relate to our evolutionary history. Bernard Wood draws on over thirty years of experience to provide an insider's view of the field and some of the personalities in it, 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.

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: OUP Oxford (3 Nov. 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192803603
• ISBN-13: 978-0192803603
• Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 1.5 x 11.2 cm

Bernard Wood:

Bernard Wood has been involved in human evolution-related research for more than thirty years. He was appointed Henry R. Luce Professor of Human Origins at George Washington University, the Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology [CASHP] and the Smithsonian Institution in 1997. This was the first Professorship to be devoted to the study of Human Origins. Prior to that he was the Derby Professor of Anatomy and the Dean of the School of Medicine at The University of Liverpool. He has published widely about the development of analytical methods and their application to the fossil record. His survey of the fossil hominin cranial remains from the Kenyan site of Koobi Fora published in 1991 is a key reference for researchers.

Review:

This book is everything that the VSI (Very Short Introductions) are supposed to be: it's short, it's to the point and it's up-to-date. It reviews all the major events in the history of thought on human evolution, as well as all the major landmarks of that evolution as we understand them today. When there are several differing interpretations of fossil evidence, Wood impartially points out all the strengths and weaknesses of different positions. Although this is not a book on evolution in general, the early chapters position human evolution within the context of primate evolution, and even more briefly, under the evolution of life. For the review of evolution in general, 'Evolution: A Very Short Introduction' would be an excellent choice. Dr. Bojan Tunguz.

→ Bradshaw Foundation - Book Review
→ Origins - Exploring the Fossil Record