Spring \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bee Hiving Moon<\/p>\n
Masters of the Planet<\/a>. \u00a0Started reading this book by Ian Tattersall, a paleoanthropologist. \u00a0A popular narrative about the evolution of the human species, Tattersall covers ground I learned well over 40 years ago when I majored in anthropology. \u00a0 Trouble is, the ground has shifted a lot since I learned about australopithecus and paranthropus robustus and all the other hominids.<\/p>\n (Logo Institute of Human Origins<\/a>)<\/p>\n When I finished my study, \u00a0the time line of human evolution ended about 3 million years ago. \u00a0Now it stretches to more like 7 million. \u00a0I learned bipedalism was a way to hunt for game and watch out for predators in the grasslands of the open savannah. \u00a0Hmmm. \u00a0Problem with that theory is that more recent finds show the first bipedalists hung out at the edge of forests and often went back into the forests. \u00a0Lots of experiences like that for me.<\/p>\n The book did relight those old flames, the reason I added anthropology to my already in place philosophy major. \u00a0Something about the human story, that long arc of time when we differentiated from the ancestor we held in common with the great apes. \u00a0How it happened. \u00a0What it means for us, now. \u00a0All the different disciplines necessary to be a good anthropologist: \u00a0ethnology, linguistics, archaeology, physical anthropology. \u00a0It was just so much fun.<\/p>\n I’d recommend this book, but I think calling it a popularization is misleading. \u00a0Tattersall is a good writer, clean prose, very logical, that’s all good, but the subject matter often veers into the apparently esoteric. \u00a0If this stuff fascinates you, it’s a good way to catch up the last 40 years or so. \u00a0And they have been amazing years in the project of learning our story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spring \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bee Hiving Moon Masters of the Planet. \u00a0Started reading this book by Ian Tattersall, a paleoanthropologist. \u00a0A popular narrative about the evolution of the human species, Tattersall covers ground I … Continue reading Old Flames<\/span>