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Sto caricando le informazioni... Ancestral Passionsdi Virginia Morell
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No other family in history has dominated a scientific field as the Leakey family has. Louis, Mary, and Richard Leakey have made key fossil discoveries that have shaped and reshaped our understanding of human origins. As a member of the tiny minority of scientists who believed that humankind originated in Africa millions of years ago, Louis Leakey helped to lay the theoretical groundwork for the science of paleoanthropology. In Ancestral Passions, Virginia Morell has written the first full biography of the Leakeys, a vivid portrait of a family whose contributions to science remain unmatched. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)573.0922Natural sciences and mathematics Life Sciences, Biology Physiological systems in animals Natural history of manClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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Morell has crafted a great book, a perfect confluence of history, biography and science, all done with great style and enthusiasm. She has worked hard to give a fair account of the scientific disagreements amongst paleontologists ('my skeleton is older than yours, and furthermore is the ancestor of modern humans...), particularly noting that she invited comment from all of the players (and some refused her invitation). The Leakey's were certainly wrong sometimes with their dating of finds or the interpretation of their significance, but probably no more than others working in a field where a single fossil tooth can form the basis of speculation about a new species of hominid walking the earth 2 million years ago. What is beyond dispute is that the Leakey's discoveries of fossil skeletons in the 1950's through to the 1980's brought the science of early human evolution to the masses through their close association with the National Geographic magazine. Louise Leakey furthermore was the driving force behind setting up and funding the work of Dian Fossey (with apes) and Jane Goodall (with chimpanzees), while Richard Leakey played an immensely important role in protecting wildlife (particularly elephants) in East Africa.
I couldn't recommend this book too highly to highly to anyone with an interest in the origins of the human species, in Africa, or who simply want to know the real background to all of those National Geographic stories about the Leakeys (and Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey) and their discoveries in Africa. This is a brick of a book at over 600 pages, and each commanding complete attention, but I have seldom read such an engaging biography that is at the same time candid, immensely informative, and ultimately respectful towards it's subject. The lesson of the Leakey's is perhaps ultimately not in the fossil fragments they delved for, but in the strength the can come from family and their power to support each other in adversity, even when they (at times) despise each other. A five star rating, without a doubt. ( )