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摘要
Long before the EPA required detailed records to be kept, people and proto-people were leaving their mark on the environment. Zoologist and science popularizer Tudge looks at the five million years in the middle of which our earliest recognizable ancestors appeared, describing the glaciers, colliding continents, fascinating creatures, and other factors that shaped human origins and early development. His detailed coverage extends to the beginning of farming, but he also surveys continuing impacts and peers into the next million years. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
评论 (5)
出版社周刊评论
With majestic sweep and subtle wit, British science writer Tudge brings an astonishing perspective to the story of humanity by telescoping three intertwined dramas: the past 40,000 years, in which Homo sapiens truly got into its stride, set against the five-million-year history of hominids, set against the 3.5 billion years of life preceding the hominids' arrival. Tudge views primates (lemurs, monkeys, apes, humans) as a ``fifth column,'' creeping up on other creatures over an 80-million-year period, rarely dominating but ultimately producing a lineage that evolved into us. He favors the multi-migration model of the ``Out of Africa'' hypothesis, which holds that Homo ergaster, not Homo erectus, evolved to produce modern Homo sapiens. Drawing on the latest research, he discusses the five mass extinctions that interrupted life on Earth; the drift of continents; the Tibetan plateau as the planet's principal cooling mechanism; the growth of our ``all-purpose'' brain and its invention of language. Tudge concludes by scanning the next million years, with emphasis on devising sustainable economies, conserving species and feeding the world's population. His eloquent, immensely rewarding synthesis fosters a new appreciation of the interdependence of our fragile biosphere. BOMC, QPB, History Book Club and Library of Science alternates. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus评论
A world survey course with a message: Change your attitude if you want Homo sapiens to survive another million years. Tudge (The Engineer in the Garden, p. 69, etc.) is an English science writer and broadcaster who soaks up data like a Pentium chip and is eager to disgorge all for the lay reader. The result is an encyclopedic volume that encompasses geology, meteorology, paleontology, taxonomy, and ecology, concluding with some predictions for the future. His basic thesis is that the human lot began to be cast not when written history began, some 10,000 years ago, but through millennia of prehistory, when fully modern humans and the basis of human culture (tool-making, agriculture, etc.) existed, and earlier: The moderns, in turn, were the product of evolutionary changes dating to the ape-hominid split five million years ago. You know from the start his heart is in the right place when he refers to historian of science Misia Landau's observation that much of what is purported to be objective human science smacks of myths that glorify human achievement. Bearing that in mind, Tudge's early chapters emphasize the role of earth forces and weather in moving continents, in creating mountains, in forcing migrations, or causing major die-offs as asteroids hit. Later chapters fairly present rival theories of human evolution, with Tudge offering his own spin in the form of successive ``out of Africa'' migrations. A recurrent theme is the role humankind now plays in Earth's destiny, whether through CFCs in the atmosphere or the deliberate or inadvertent destruction of species. Only recognition of what is at risk and a change in attitude will rectify the situation, argues Tudge, in an admittedly not very hopeful stance. Tudge's zeal to explain in detail and present mountains of evidence will try the reader who may wonder if this isn't a text with quizzes to follow. All in all, however, this is sound science supporting a point of view that deserves to be heeded. (line drawings, not seen)
《书目》(Booklist)书评
British science writer Tudge, author of Engineer in the Garden [BKL Mr 15 95], wants us to see human history in its entirety and in terms of its often overlooked connections to the earth and our fellow species. Tudge begins by discussing the workings of the earth's grand ecological systems, then moves on to lively explanations of the mechanism of evolution. Philosophical, conversational, and frequently witty, Tudge offers fresh and stimulating perspectives on such aspects of life as how climate and plate tectonics influence evolution and how crucial our manual and verbal dexterities have been to our becoming the "all-purpose animal that in principle can solve any problem." Tudge hastens to say that this adaptability and power do not give us the right to destroy other species, but much of his history of humanity analyzes the negative impact we've had on the earth ever since we mastered fire and agriculture, from the depletion of the ozone layer to the pollution of the oceans and the decimation of numerous animal species. An invigoratingly syncretic look at five million years of human life. --Donna Seaman
Choice 评论
Although Tudge (a science writer) has not written a revolutionary, popular synthesis in the tradition of Ardrey or Morris, his book is a worthy overview that connects the details of recent research in geology, ecology, and archaeology for understanding the full sweep of human prehistory. Put into the right hands, it will be an excellent antidote against the ravages of creation "science" sweeping parts of the US. Its greatest strength is that it places the environment and human evolution in an intellectual perspective far more complete than most educated people are probably aware of. It eloquently describes the environmental context, the acquisition of biologically significant properties, and the demographic and climatic imperatives of the hominid past that often govern even the most recent trajectories in human events. This is much needed to balance the exclusively culture-bound explanations of history. In addition to useful introductions to "how the world works" and "fellow creatures," the specifics of Plio-Pleistocene events (about 5.5 million-year duration) are summarized. A good, superbly written book for a lay audience interested in an account of the environmental impact of human "deep" history. General; two-year technical program students. F. S. Szalay CUNY Hunter College
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
Nearly everyone thinks of human history as covering the past 2000 years. Yet, this conventional time period only tells us about the specific activities of human beings after they already controlled the world and mastered its other species; it does not tell us about the changing nature of plate tectonics and their impact on species evolution; it does not encompass the significance of how we separated from other animals in our own evolutionary development, nor of the tremendous impact we have had on our environment and other species. Science writer Tudge (The Engineer in the Garden: Genes and Genetics, LJ 2/15/95) begins by putting time into perspective so that we can understand how vast is our past; he helps us see that all evolution is part of a bigger whole-an unfolding process affected by shifting continents, climactic changes, and our own impact on the planet and its ecosystems. He presents an exceptional account of human evolution in a concise yet original manner. He defines our origins in a biological, as well as historical, context and applies the lessons that we should learn from our mistakes as well as our achievements to provide a blueprint for the future. Highly recommended for most libraries.-Gloria Maxwell, Kansas City P.L., Kan. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.