Prehistory

  (out of 5 stars)

Paleobiologist Steven Stanley considers the impact of major ecological and environmental changes wrought by ice ages on the evolution of human beings in his book Children of the Ice Age. A fascinating subject and impressive theory, the treatment here is disappointing.

I found Stanley's writing to be a bit jarring: the narrative seemed to skip across necessary connections between thoughts. By the time the author got to the primary evidence for his thesis, I had had to reread numerous passages to attempt to understand his points. The writing is not dense or overly-complicated (I am an experienced science reader who often enjoys such dense treatments), but it left me missing the point far too often.

Still, the subject is very interesting, and while I wouldn't recommend this book to many people, those with a keen interest in paleontology, paleobiology, anthropology, evolution, and population migrations will likely find some value in reading Children. Two and one-half stars.

  (out of 5 stars)

The discovery of the Java Man skeleton was one of the groundbreaking moments in paleontology and anthropology, providing a key piece of predicted but, until that point, largely absent evidence for near-human ancestors. Here, in a book written by Roger Lewin but credited as well to Carl Swisher and Garniss Curtis, the history of the discovery and related events is described. An interesting subject, the book nonetheless fails to thrive and instead is largely muddled and dull.

The first part of the book is by far the most interesting as the authors describe the finding of Java Man and the efforts required over the years to study the specimen. If the rest of the book had maintained the pace, level of detail, and science content, it would have been a recommended resource for popular anthropology and science readers.

However, the book takes a turn for the worse as the authors fall into a long section detailing the office politics which saw their research threatened from forces allied against them within their organization. While somewhat interesting, this digression from the story of Java Man breaks the narrative in a way which damages the reader's enjoyment and wonder.

The last section feels tacked on, as if the authors recognized that the book was not nearly long enough to warrant publication. So, a section on anthropology and human populations in general is presented which harbors very little information about Java Man or of the events which surrounded the fossils. A basic discussion of the subject, this section failed to produce any meaningful addition to the book itself or to the field of popular anthropology.

Java Man left me feeling unfulfilled, as if the story itself never warranted a book length treatment. The last two sections, which make up the majority of the work, are largely unnecessary for the reader and offer little on-topic information that wasn't already detailed in the opening chapters. Not specifically recommended for anyone, though it may be of interest to those who seek popular anthropological histories. Two and one-half stars.

  (out of 5 stars)

Science journalist Nicholas Wade has delivered an exploration of human genetics in the spirit of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. Wade works backwards in time, using genetic clues to discover knowledge about prehistoric human societies. Before the Dawn offers a breadth of knowledge about current genetic research into human populations and migrations, and draws some fascinating conclusions about the rise and dispersal of early human societies.

Wade's narrative largely follows research into genetic variations found in the Y chromosome and in mitochondrial DNA. These variations, the distribution of which allows researchers to track common ancestry and branching, are used to narrow the likely periods of human movement out of Africa to points beyond. A bit of time is spent on the earliest culturally modern humans in Africa before moving on latter periods of migration and settlement. Potential interactions with hominid relatives is discussed, as is the impact of various cold spells and ice ages.

Wade explores social behavior as well, showing how researchers have applied darwinian natural selection and genetic drift to account for both universal and isolated behaviors. Later, language is considered, with significant caveats as to its effectiveness in signalling fundamental shifts in human population. The discussion on race is well crafted. Wade does not bow to social pressure in describing genetic variations found among the races, including a fascinating discussion of the intellectual prowess of Ashkenazi Jews. Just to be clear, Wade is not advocating superiority of any race, he wants only to point out that there are significant data indicating genetic differences of isolated human populations can produce measurably different abilities.

I found Before the Dawn to be fascinating, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. Wade may not be a scientist, but he has conducted a thorough investigation into the ongoing research of population genetics and offers the reader a tremendous treat of science and history. Five stars.