Author: Jacob Bronowski
By Bt Bound

Inspiring and uplifting, 2007-09-04
Written in the seventies, when people thought logic and science could solve everything, this is a passionatley written history of mankind. It reminds me of those post-war children's encyclopaedias: it always inspires you to want to find out more, and leaves you feeling there is hope in the future and lessons to be learnt from history.

Author: Robert J. Whittaker, José Maria Fernandez-Palacios
By OUP Oxford

Author: S.N. Dorogovtsev, J.F.F. Mendes
By OUP Oxford

A great summary of all recent discovery of random graphs, 2003-07-11
The book includes a lot of recent results of random networks. It is very good for any beginner who wants to study the random networks with arbitrary degree distribution.

Author: Randolph M. Nesse, George C. Williams
By Times Books

Wonderfully interesting and engaging for laypeople, 1998-05-20
As a bright artistic type who is basically scientifically illiterate, I often find myself unable to get through more than a third of my organic chemist husband's science books. Why We Get Sick is written for both the scientist and those who are just plain interested in knowing about things, i.e. people like me. Like all theories, what is presented here could be flawed. However the authors present a very intriguing point of view about health and the human body. Well worth tripping over a few unfamiliar words.

Author: R Boyd
By W. W. Norton & Co.

Indispensible, 2005-05-12
An excellent general reference text. I have used it in innumerable essays, it is always very handy to have around for looking things up. It's expensive, but worth the money - if you only buy one evolution textbook, get this one.

By OUP Oxford

Author: Roger Lewin
By WileyBlackwell

Author: Dolph Schluter
By OUP Oxford

Author: David P. Barash
By Transaction Publishers,U.S.

Author: Penny Van Oosterzee, Mike Morwood
By Collins

First class science writing, 2006-12-30
This is an excellent story of scientific discovery.

The authors, Mike Morwood and Penny Van Oosterzee, present a first-hand account of the discovery of parts of 13 hominin (ie `human lineage') skeletons (including a well-preserved skull), in a cave on the island of Flores in Indonesia in 2003. These bones have been interpreted to belong to a new species of `human': indeed a dwarfed descendant of a pre-Homo sapien species. Mike Morwood and co., who were responsible for the project, interpret the bones as belonging to dwarfed descendants of Homo habilis, only previously known from ~1.9 million year old specimens from Africa. The bones were found within sediments dating between about 94,000 and 13,000 years ago, and reveal individuals only about 1.06m high, with a brain capacity of only 380cc, or around 1/3 of modern humans. Primitive tools, and evidence of hunting and fire were also found.

Massive ramifications ensue from such a discovery. Is this really a case of insular dwarfism, well-documented in the non-human world (where animals bigger than a rabbit on isolated islands tend to get considerably smaller over time), but never before in the `human' lineage? Or is it just a few medically-afflicted Homo sapien individuals? Is it really a different species? How long ago did they live? How did they die out? Did they have language? Did they have religion? Most of the current data and interpretations are presented in this book, although there has been some recent studies not presented in any detail, and of course there will be more to come. Tragically, some of the material has been damaged during research, due to bungling and politics, which you will have to read about yourself.

The authors do an admirable job putting the find in its proper context. You will have to wade through about 100 pages of context and story before the discovery is actually made, but this is both necessary and interesting in its own right. Discussions include previous excavations on the island, the geological history of the region (Flores is only a few million years old), the significance of the Wallace and Lydekker Lines, migration routes, examples of island dwarfism (including elephants, goats, and deer), two-way traffic in and out of Africa within various animal lineages, and the development of recent agriculture in China and New Guinea, which promoted dispersal throughout Indonesia, Madagascar, and ultimately the Pacific. Other discussions include project planning, rationale and methodology; initial choices of excavation sites; the daily work of field staff; and the stratigraphic context and dating of the cave site.

The authors contend that it is likely that various homo species spread throughout Asia from Africa from around 3.7 and 2.6 million years ago. Their interpretation places this species, as mentioned, as descended from Homo habilis, with characteristics more closely resembling that species than the later Homo erectus, also found on nearby Java. They back this up with various diagrams, anatomical comparisons, dating, and other discussions. They also contend that Asia in general has played a larger role in human prehistory than previously acknowledged, and I must say their reasoning and arguments are very convincing. There is no shortage of surprising finds and scientific tradition within the area of south east Asia, including Indonesia. This includes the discovery of `Java man', and the significance of the Wallace Line in the discovery and formulation of evolutionary theory.

It is also mentioned that horses originally evolved in North America- evolving into the Zebra later in Africa, the `big cats' originated in Asia and later entered Africa evolving into the lion etc, but both elephants and the hominin lineage (that's our relatives) initially evolved in Africa and then spread outward, from several million years ago. The point is, is that Africa has had two-way traffic of various species, in and out, for eons. There is no reason to suggest that some hominin species originating in Africa (or even elsewhere) can't have evolved into new species regionally, including in an evolutionary hotspot such as Indonesia. This has been documented to have occurred with the Neanderthals in Eurasia, and within elephants in numerous places, such as North America (eg mastodon), and on poor old Flores island-the dwarfed elephant Stegodon-on which the small inhabitants of Flores hunted.

In addition to very good scientific review and discussions, all the good, bad and ugly that can occur within scientific research is discussed, including bureaucratic bungling, difficult field conditions, ownership of material, academic bungling, and research ethics; and in the worst cases, poaching, destruction of material during research, secret and ideological agendas, `theft', and international politics.

The interpretation of a `new species' going extinct relatively recently on Flores is not without its controversy. Some claim the bones are only medically afflicted Homo sapien individuals-specifically microcephalia-a condition which diminishes stature and brain size. However the authors contend that both the stratigraphic context, and features of the bones themselves thoroughly discounts this interpretation. This includes anatomical traits which are not found in either Homo sapien (including pygmies) or microcephalic individuals, but are found in other ancestral species-including australopithecines and Homo habilis. I'm no anatomical expert, but I read that these include the forward orientation and length of the arms, the shape and other aspects of the skull, the shape of the pelvis, and the primitive roots of the teeth. The stratigraphic context, which reveals habitation over an extended time period, and the number of individuals found, also discounts this theory. There have also been several independent studies done on the bones which discount the microcephalia interpretation, however this alternate interpretation is still held by some.

There is a wealth of scientific information and context in this book. It is first class research and science writing, and should go a long way in the proper communication of this fascinating discovery.

The book is moderately technical, but most readers will be able to wade through most of the jargon, and the associated interpretations and controversies.