Darwin's Legacy: Scenarios in Human Evolution

by Sue Taylor Parker, Karin Enstam Jaffe

Overview

Darwin’s Legacy: Scenarios in Human Evolution compares ideas about human evolution Darwin published in The Descent of Man in 1891 to 30 scenarios about the evolution of such unique human characteristics as bipedalism, hairless skin, secondary sex characters, language and culture that anthropologists and psychologists published between 1950 and 2006. It evaluates ideas about hunting and scavenging, aimed throwing, primitive warfare, aquatic life, courtship, and sign language in light of modern data on genetics, stone tools, fossils, and primate behavior. Parallels between Darwin’s ideas and those of modern researchers are striking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759103160
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	06/13/2008
Series:	African Archaeology Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Sue Taylor Parker is emeritus professor of anthropology at Sonoma State University.
Karin Enstam Jaffe is associate professor of anthropology at Sonoma State University.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Part I. Background
Chapter 2 Chapter 1. Scenarios in Human Evolution: Science or Fiction?
Chapter 3 Chapter 2. Guidelines for Modeling Human Evolution
Chapter 4 Chapter 3. Who Were Our Ancestors?
Part 5 Part II. Origins Models
Chapter 6 Chapter 4. Origins of Human Subsistence
Chapter 7 Chapter 5. Origins of Bipedalism
Chapter 8 Chapter 6. Origins of Human Life History
Chapter 9 Chapter 7. Origins of Human Bodily Displays
Chapter 10 Chapter 8. Origins of Language
Chapter 11 Chapter 9. Origins of Human Mentality
Chapter 12 Chapter 10. Origins of Cultures

Editorial Reviews

Darwin's Legacy provides carefully synthesized explanations, grounded in currently available evidence, for the evolution of uniquely human traits. Parker and Jaffe's articulate conclusions are highly satisfying. If we could all elegantly explain and digest ideas the way that Parker and Jaffe do, we would all get top teaching evaluations and the field of biological anthropology would gain in popularity, not to mention grant funding.

American Journal Of Physical Anthropology

Darwin's Legacy provides carefully synthesized explanations, grounded in currently available evidence, for the evolution of uniquely human traits. Parker and Jaffe's articulate conclusions are highly satisfying. If we could all elegantly explain and digest ideas the way that Parker and Jaffe do, we would all get top teaching evaluations and the field of biological anthropology would gain in popularity, not to mention grant funding.

June 2009 American Journal Of Physical Anthropology

There are almost countless books on human evolution, but Parker and Jaffe have provided a valuable service to the broad field of human evolutionary studies by producing this one. The extensive references are up-to-date and by themselves worth the price of the book. A great introduction for advanced undergraduate and graduate students into the complex and controversial field of human evolution. Highly recommended.

Choice

Well-told stories are fun to read. When they are laced with up-to-date factual detail, these stories become a natural source of learning. Mastering the details of the scientific study of human origins is a daunting task, but the approach here makes it both delightful and rewarding. Darwin's Legacy: Scenarios in Human Evolution is an accurate, thorough, and beautifully written account of human evolution.

Henry M. McHenry

There are almost countless books on human evolution, but Parker and Jaffe have provided a valuable service to the broad field of human evolutionary studies by producing this one. The extensive references are up-to-date and by themselves worth the price of the book. A great introduction for advanced undergraduate and graduate students into the complex and controversial field of human evolution. Highly recommended.

June 2009 CHOICE

Sue Taylor Parker and Karin Enstam Jaffe have given us a lively and illuminating history of how scholars have interpreted the many 'no-longer-missing links' that have been discovered since Darwin's day. A contentious dialogue of competing views on the origins of language, bipedalism, sociality, cognition, and culture, Darwin's Legacy provides a much-needed overview of what we think we know about how we got here.

Richard Milner

[The] book is generally complete and very well referenced, allowing readers to track down easily more complete discussions or arguments and counterarguments.. .. it will be useful, as the authors hope, as a book to be used in a seminar on the history of ideas of human origins.

Reports Of The National Center For Science Education

[The] book is generally complete and very well referenced, allowing readers to track down easily more complete discussions or arguments and counterarguments. . . . it will be useful, as the authors hope, as a book to be used in a seminar on the history of ideas of human origins.

Reports of The National Center For Science Education

There are almost countless books on human evolution, but Parker and Jaffe have provided a valuable service to the broad field of human evolutionary studies by producing this one. The extensive references are up-to-date and by themselves worth the price of the book. A great introduction for advanced undergraduate and graduate students into the complex and controversial field of human evolution. Highly recommended.

Choice Reviews

There are almost countless books on human evolution, but Parker and Jaffe have provided a valuable service to the broad field of human evolutionary studies by producing this one. The extensive references are up-to-date and by themselves worth the price of the book. A great introduction for advanced undergraduate and graduate students into the complex and controversial field of human evolution. Highly recommended.

June 2009 Choice Reviews

Sue Taylor Parker and Karin Enstam Jaffe have given us a lively and illuminating history of how scholars have interpreted the many 'no-longer-missing links' that have been discovered since Darwin's day. A contentious dialogue of competing views on the origins of language, bipedalism, sociality, cognition, and culture, Darwin's Legacy provides a much-needed overview of what we think we know about how we got here.--Richard Milner, author of The Encyclopedia of Evolution

Well-told stories are fun to read. When they are laced with up-to-date factual detail, these stories become a natural source of learning. Mastering the details of the scientific study of human origins is a daunting task, but the approach here makes it both delightful and rewarding. Darwin's Legacy: Scenarios in Human Evolution is an accurate, thorough, and beautifully written account of human evolution.--Henry M. McHenry, University of California, Davis

There are almost countless books on human evolution, but Parker and Jaffe have provided a valuable service to the broad field of human evolutionary studies by producing this one. The extensive references are up-to-date and by themselves worth the price of the book. A great introduction for advanced undergraduate and graduate students into the complex and controversial field of human evolution. Highly recommended.--CHOICE, June 2009

From the Publisher