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The Emergence of Humans: An Exploration of the Evolutionary Timeline

ISBN: 978-0-470-01315-1

May 2010

338 pages

Description
The Emergence of Humans is an accessible, informative introduction to the scientific study of human evolution. It takes the reader through time following the emergence of the modern human species Homo sapiens from primate roots. Acknowledging the controversy surrounding the interpretation of the fossil record, the authors present a balanced approach in an effort to do justice to different views.

Each chapter covers a significant time period of evolutionary history and includes relevant techniques from other disciplines that have applications to the field of human evolution. Self-assessment questions linked to learning outcomes are provided for each chapter, together with further reading and reference to key sources in the primary literature. The book will thus be effective both as a conventional textbook and for independent study.

Written by two authors with a wealth of teaching experience The Emergence of Humans will prove invaluable to students in the biological and natural sciences needing a clear, balanced introduction to the study of human evolution.

About the Author

Dr. Patricia J. Ash, The Open University in the South, UK and Dr. David J. Robinson<.strong>, Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, UK.

Features
  • Carefully structured around the evolutionary timeline: The structure enables students to appreciate the diversity and geographical distribution of primate species that lived during specific time periods from about 50 million years ago.
  • Provides objective coverage of contentious issues: Important themes such as bipedalism and the increasing size and complexity of the brain are set clearly within the time scale of evolution so that students can track the complex fossil, anatomical, artefactual, molecular and genetic evidence relevant to those themes.
  • Includes integrated self-assessment questions and a comprehensive glossary: In-text and end of chapter questions provide opportunities for developing and practicing key skills and cognitive skills. They also lead students into use of specific lines of evidence for supporting or refuting theories. The questions provide opportunities for students to practice identifying spurious reasoning or bias. Each chapter ends with recommended further reading, and references to significant review articles. A select bibliography of original research papers is included at the end of the book.
  • Clearly written and presented with numerous full colour illustrations:  The illustrations, photographs and maps reinforce key concepts explored within the text.