Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins

Lucy's Legacy was written by the paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson who was involved in the discovery of the Lucy female skeleton. Kate Wong is listed as a co-author. Lucy is of the Australopithecus afarensis species. This species is dated to about 3.2 million years ago.Johanson provides an in depth narrative of the events that led up to the discovery of this specimen, and I found this narrative to be quite interesting. The first eight chapters are devoted to this story, but it is more than this. In these chapters, you will learn what it is like first hand to be a paleoanthropologist working in the field. It certainly does not seem to be a bed of roses. There is a lot of hard work, searing temperatures endured in tropical African areas, and many dangers encountered from rival ethnic clans engaged in constant fighting for whatever reasons they fight. While reading this account, you will also learn a bit about the lingo used in the field.The next section covers the dawn of humankind and some of the other early hominids prevalent in this same period such as, A. anamensis, the Robust australopithecines, Kenyanthropus platyops, and Australopithecus garhi. The front and back inside covers of the book display a nice chronological chart of all the hominid species and their relations. I found myself referring time and again to this chart as I read the book - a nice touch.The final section of the book discusses the homo genus including Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo ergaster. We learn about the population at Dmanisi (an area populated by hominids that left Africa), the hobbits of Flores (H. floresiensis) and the mysteries surrounding them, and, of course, no discussion of the subject is complete without talking about the Neandertals (H. neanderthalensis).I found the final chapter very interesting. It was about the rise of Homo sapiens. Johanson discussed the "big band" that occurred about 40,000 years ago when we see a sudden rise in sophisticated weapons, art, and music - a general intellectual burst of sorts. Johanson tries to make the point that some believe this may have more of a cultural revolution than a big bang. He provides many examples of advanced tool making and the use of substances such as red ocher used in body painting as evidence that humans displayed advanced skills prior to this. I think more study is needed in this area.Overall I found this book a good read. It gives an interesting insight into what Paleoanthropology is all about and the state of our knowledge base on the subject.

It was quite long and not the page turner that I expected.Clearly the authors were very well educated in this field. The one annoying thing was every time - it seemed - they reached a conclusion they went to " ON THE OTHER HAND" . So for example, it seemed conclusive that hominids branches out from Chimps and Apes 28 Million years ago then he jumped to the school that argued it was perhaps more like 7-5 million years ago.This is not their fault since science by its nature is not established by consensus. But as a casual reader and aficionado of paleoanthrpology its,quite frustrating.Also the authors spend considerable time describing various discoveries. But, it would have been helpful to have visual representations of them . A picture is indeed worth a thousand words.Finally, where are the Denisovans in our hominid history. Nothing was said about them though I was pleased to read the insights,on the Hobbit and Flores. Thank You

"Lucy's Legacy, the Quest for Human Origins," is a book that everyone can (and should) read. Donald Johanson's newest work is a delightful combination of adventure and science.The first part of the book takes the reader on a journey to Africa, especially Ethiopia, to witness some of the greatest discoveries ever made. It is at once a travelogue and an exposition that inspires one to want to be there with Johanson. The detail makes you feel present in the Afar triangle as it takes place, and the style forces you to keep turning pages for more.Johanson and his co-author, Kate Wong, then tackle the difficult task of putting hominid fossils, and our current knowledge of them, in a context that allows a non-scientist, such as myself, to appreciate the present views of many scientists on topics old (did we blend sexually with Neanderthals) to new (what can we make of the homo floresiensis "hobbit").For anyone who has done some lay reading in the field, the account of paleoanthropological theory in "Lucy's Legacy" is fascinating and remarkably balanced. The book recounts all sides of issues (when there are sides) in a measured and thoughtful way. That is a rare find.Johanson takes lumps from some other scientists for publishing material that popularizes what he does. That it lifts the spirits of informed non-scientists, and inspires the younger set to new dreams, is viewed as of no importance. Moreover, some will claim that the title was "stolen" from Alison Jolly's insightful earlier work entitled "Lucy's Legacy, Sex and Intelligence in Human Evolution." But, anyone who actually reads them both will see that they are complementary parts of an intellectual search.This is a terrific book.

I do love reading Donald Johanson's books on Paleoanthropology. The writing is very accessible and fun to read. His books are not the dry and sometimes bland readings that describe many books in this category. (And of course, some of those books are great as well) His books read like an adventure and keep your interest peaked! As the discoverer of the famous "Lucy" fossils, his knowledge of the Awash Basin, the Great Rift Valley, the people of the Afar region, and the government of Ethiopia allow the descriptions of his journeys to be full of detail, which brings an 'almost like being there' feeling when you read.

Even while this subject is of considerable interest to me I kind of expected a dry, slow read but I have been pleasantly surprised. I have found this book to be extremely interesting and written in such a way as to be fully understandable and enlightening to we novices

Found this book on Amazon after an unscheduled visit to the National Museum in Addis - the museum that is talked about extensively in this book. The book provides a nice summary of the author's work and than a now somewhat dated summary of the science to the time of its writing. It would be nice to have the terminal chapters updated given all the recent advances in this field. If you are interested in this field I would strongly recommend this book.

The book arrived earlier than promised. An interesting topic, providing a far different look at the origins of humanity than my university courses of the 70s.

The newly found history of humankind and how we came to be what we are today.

Few subjects are more fascinating than the origins of human beings and arguably the most famous of all is Lucy who helped launch Dr Johanson's career in spectacular fashion in the 70s. The authors do not dwell too much on this, often told event, but bring us up to date on more recent work in Ethiopia and elsewhere.Unfortunately for those who might think the hominid family tree is beginning to take shape, allowing us to speculate on our likely ancestors, someone finds a skeleton that creates more confusion. The so called Hobbit, which is only 17,000 years old was such a find.Obviously this is good news for palaeontologists wishing to secure funds for field work, the answer to the numerous questions is to unearth more fossils and artefacts. A nice touch is the praise given to the increasing number of Ethiopian scientists. That country has certainly had its problems over the past three decades, and it is good to see Lucy's legacy is still having a positive effect.Most discoverers of important finds will probably like to think their species is the human ancestor and the case for Australopithicus aferensis is stronger than many because it lived for such a long time. However, the true story might never be known because good fossils are so rare and many lines might have no trace at all.This was my first Kindle purchase and this format works very well for text although some words are split and others joined. The photographs were the only real disappointment - some just did not work at all, they just would not fit on the page. Turning to landscape helped a little for some, though. References to colour were of no use in a black and white medium.