The Genesis Chronicles: The evolution of humankindAllen & Unwin, 2001 - Всего страниц: 336 The fifteen stages from Ramepithecus to Homo sapiens sapiens-the story of human evolution. 'Sensing rather than seeing the attack, Yellowtip swung to face Beta, still grasping the branch. At full pelt Beta fell directly onto the straight point of the stick. With little more than a grunt, he wrenched himself back, then fell on the ground twitching and was still... Yellowtip drew himself erect, stick in hand. He had not deliberately challenged Beta but, by destroying him, he should replace him in the hierarchy, though young and inexperienced. Tensely, he stared down at each male in turn, inviting challenge. One by one, they struggled to return his gaze, then dropped their eyes and turned aside. This was triumph-it felt glorious.' Yellowtip's accidental discovery of weaponry provides the basis for the first chronicle in Glenorchy McBride's personal take on the history of evolution. Like many great discoveries over the history of time, some of the fifteen steps on the long road from Ramepithecus to Homo sapiens sapiens were serendipitous and some the result of trial and error, but all are described with wit and compassion in this entertaining and thought-provoking book. We squat with Fireboy as he anxiously nurtures the first flickering embers and run with Ton and his beloved wolf-cub. We sit at Roo's feet as she shares her dreams of the first totem spirit; we meet the first artists, the first traders, the first herders and, finally, the Sower of seeds, the visionary who led her people towards our own modern agriculture. Drawing on his long and distinguished career as an internationally recognised ethologist, Glenorchy McBride illustrates each of his chronicles with detailed scientific background material. The Genesis Chronicles present a picture of the history of evolution, a picture which prompts McBride to ask whether our evolution has fitted us for the world we have created or whether we are irredeemably flawed by our ancestral experiences. |
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| 6 | |
G3845 | 15 |
The Chronicles of Homo erectus | 123 |
Sensi the toolmakerdesigner and trader | 143 |
Wulu the firemaker | 153 |
New skills for new people | 162 |
The Chronicles of Homo sapiens | 169 |
RooDreamer of dreams and mother of gods | 183 |
Sharptoolswhose arrows killed mammoths | 209 |
Through anothers eyes | 219 |
The boy and his wolf | 228 |
Brudherderkeeper of sheep | 237 |
Sowera woman of vision | 249 |
A flowering of talents | 264 |
Legaciesbequests and blemishes? | 271 |
Further reading | 311 |
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adult Ahyah ancestors animals apes Arro arrows attention Australopithecines baby became behaviour blade brought Brudherder camp carried cave Charles Darwin chimpanzees Chronicles communication daily dance digging sticks dogs dominant erect evolution evolutionary evolved ewes excited females fight fire Fireboy firewood flakes flint flock foraging fossil gathered godmakers Goom grain grass grew Groomer grooming hair hands harvest hominid Homo erectus Homo habilis Homo sapiens Homo sapiens sapiens human hunters hunting infants interaction killed knew language Leader learned lives Longsight mates meat mime mother moved natural selection needed neighbours No-one numbers oestrus Old Alpha organised pair play posture predators primate Ramapithecus range recognised relationships sexual sharp sheep Shoo Shuma signs skills skin social Spearman spears species speech step stone stories Strongarm tents Tiny took Toolmaker totem trees tribe troop walked watched winter Wolfboy wolves women Wulu Yellowtip young males youngsters
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Стр. 3 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Стр. 94 - The mental powers in some early progenitor of man must have been more highly developed than in any existing ape, before even the most imperfect form of speech could have come into use...
Стр. 43 - The world, it. has often been remarked, appears as if it had long been preparing for the advent of man ; and this, in one sense is strictly true, for he owes his birth to a long line of progenitors. If any single link in this chain had never existed, man would not have been exactly what he now is. Unless we wilfully close our eyes, we may, with our present knowledge, approximately recognise our parentage ; nor need we feel ashamed of it.
Стр. 53 - The early male forefathers of man were, as previously stated, probably furnished with great canine teeth: but as they gradually acquired the habit of using stones, clubs, or other weapons, for fighting with their enemies or rivals, they would use their jaws and teeth less and less. In this case, the jaws, together with the teeth, would become reduced in size, as we may feel almost sure from innumerable analogous cases.
Стр. 197 - The feeling of religious devotion is a highly complex one, consisting of love, complete submission to an exalted and mysterious superior, a strong sense of dependence,77 fear, reverence, gratitude, hope for the future, and perhaps other elements.
Стр. 19 - In each great region of the world the living mammals are closely related to the extinct species of the same region. It is, therefore, probable that Africa was formerly inhabited by extinct apes closely allied to the gorilla and chimpanzee ; and, as these two species are now man's nearest allies, it is somewhat more probable that our early progenitors lived on the African Continent than elsewhere.
Стр. 164 - Lubbock's suggestion, that when primeval man first used flint-stones for any purpose he would have accidentally splintered them, and would then have used the sharp fragments. From this step it would be a small one to break the flints on purpose, and not a very wide step to fashion them rudely.
Стр. 53 - The free use of the arms and hands, partly the cause and partly the result of man's erect position, appears to have led in an indirect manner to other modifications of structure.
Стр. 35 - But the hands and arms could hardly have become perfect enough to have manufactured weapons, or to have hurled stones and spears with a true aim, as long as they were habitually used for locomotion and for supporting the whole weight of the body, or, as before remarked, so long as they were especially fitted for climbing trees.
Стр. 105 - This especially holds good with the more simple and vivid feelings, which are but little connected with our higher intelligence. Our cries of pain, fear, surprise, anger, together with their appropriate actions, and the murmur of a mother to her beloved child, are more expressive than any words.