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Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human
Origins Reconsidered In Search of What Makes Us Human Author:Richard Leakey, Roger Lewin In 1984, Richard Leakey and his "Hominid Gang" of fossil hunters discovered fragments of a boy's skull that were more than 1.5 million years old. They soon unearthed virtually the entire skeleton of what was dubbed the "Turkana Boy" and recognized as one of the most significant paleoanthropological discoveries of al... more »l time.
But while his Turkana Boy caused a sensation in the media and throughout the world of science, Leakey himself was restless. Yes, the existing fossil record of our prehistory was impressive. But there were more elusive matters to consider.
For Richard Leakey the most compelling question is no longer "How did we physically evolve?" It is, instead, "How did we become human?" For this world-renowned paleoanthropologist it is a humbling reminder that no matter how complete the skeleton, how perfect the fossil, there is a gap in our knowledge. Our ancestors evolved from two-legged scavengers into creatures that create. They learned to make stone tools, to communicate, to build shelter, and to hunt for food.
This realization sparked Leakey to return to his earlier work - especially his 1977 book, Origins - to pole holes in his previous beliefs and to reflect anew on what makes us who we are. As he gently admits, considerations like these are usually left to philosophers, not scientists. But again and again, he is faced with his own guiding principle: "The past is the key to our future."
In this seminal work, Leakey incorporates ideas from philosophy, anthropology, molecular biology, and even linguistics, to investigate not only how we evolved anatomically, but how we acquired the qualities that make us human -- consciousness, creativity, and culture.« less