I'm currently reading a book called Lucy : The Beginnings of Humankind. Free book, I picked up at the Half -Price Book Store Teacher Give Away last month.I have always heard of this Lucy and how she related to human evolution; and I have to admit that Australopithecus afro is one of my favorite species since the Leakeys started discovering them in Africa while I was in grade school. (http://www.leakeyfoundation.org/ )
I have since learned that Mary Leakey (b. 1913, d. 1996) did all the hard field work and was the brains behind the family, while Louis S. B. Leakey (b. 1903, d. 1972) did all the publicity work and glad-handing to raise money for field work in Africa...
Even though the book was published more than 20 years, it is a wonderful read. Great narrative story telling, even if the science is a bit out of date. It is now more or less history of discovery of Lucy (as in "Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds") and I wanted to learn more about the history of Lucy. The authors (Dr. Donald C. Johanson and his ghost writer associate Maitland A. Edey) did a tremendous job describing the difference of each species, from apes to humans and how to identify each skull. It is not a dry, dusty work of writing.
Lots of colorful stories about the men (and women) that searched for the pre-history of man and the origins of the species of Homo sapiens. They do a wonderful job showing the personalities of the discoverers as well as the significance of each's discovery. The drama of the search, and the some times outrageous behavior of the early anthropologists and the fraud of "bone merchants" looking for a missing-link.
The New York Times published an incredible article about further insights unveiled by studying Lucy's bones. This article was printed on September 21, 2006. Little Girl, 3 Million Years Old, Offers New Hints on Evolution but you will have to sign up for their FREE ACCESS to it: http://www.nytimes.com/gst/regi.html.
There were several copies at the book give away, but I am still trying to clear out the garage this year. So, you will have to go looking for a copy... I am keeping this one for my study.
Anyway, I noticed in today's Wall Street Journal an article : which seems to be related to what I am reading. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124235632936122739.html
In what could prove to be a landmark discovery, a leading paleontologist said scientists have dug up the 47 million-year-old fossil of an ancient primate whose features suggest it could be the common ancestor of all later monkeys, apes and humans.
Anthropologists have long believed that humans evolved from ancient ape-like ancestors. Some 50 million years ago, two ape-like groups walked the Earth. One is known as the tarsidae, a precursor of the tarsier, a tiny, large-eyed creature that lives in Asia. Another group is known as the adapidae, a precursor of today's lemurs in Madagascar.
Based on previously limited fossil evidence, one big debate had been whether the tarsidae or adapidae group gave rise to monkeys, apes and humans. The latest discovery bolsters the less common position that our ancient ape-like ancestor was an adapid, the believed precursor of lemurs.
A fossil discovery suggests humans may be descended from an animal that resembles present-day lemurs like this one. Philip Gingerich, president-elect of the Paleontological Society in the U.S., has co-written a paper that will detail next week the latest fossil discovery in Public Library of Science, a peer-reviewed, online journal. "This discovery brings a forgotten group into focus as a possible ancestor of higher primates," Mr. Gingerich, a professor of paleontology at the University of Michigan, said in an interview.
The discovery has little bearing on a separate paleontological debate centering on the identity of a common ancestor of chimps and humans, which could have lived about six million years ago and still hasn't been found.
That gap in the evolution story is colloquially referred to as the "missing link" controversy. In reality, though, all gaps in the fossil record are technically "missing links" until filled in, and most scientists say the term is meaningless.
The only Half-Price Books give-a-way is held now at a new location near the main store in Dallas on Loop 12 or North West Highway, in the old ware house docks that are behind gg's Jazz Club, to the East of the store and the StarBucks Coffee Shop on a map.5915 E Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=5915+E.+Northwest+Highway,+Dallas,+TX&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.808514,64.599609&ie=UTF8&ll=32.866215,-96.763394&spn=0.009012,0.015771&z=16&iwloc=A>
The Half Price Book Store Give-A-Way is now open to the public for individuals and groups that serve the needs of schools, churches, religious studies, immigration orientation, reading programs ... if you are willing to sign the conditions of the donation and serve as a contact for some sort of "religious, education, home schooling, child development... whatever you want to call it center" you can take two boxes of books that have been discarded from the stores. Let's face it, a 20-year old book on the discoveries of old bones does not have a large audience today. Only one condition: you must not sell the books!
Take'em for Free. Give'em away for Free.
D****** to Hell if you sell them!
And we are talking about some very, very interesting books!
Hard covers. First Editions (some signed). Lots of paperbacks.
All subjects. Trade books and text books. Thousands of children books...you will never know what you will find there on any Saturday morning.
Every Saturday.
Doors open at 9 AM.
There is a line outside the door at 8:30 AM!
Come Early to get a good position close to the door...
Doors close when the last book is give-a-way or 11 AM sharp!
Be on your best behavior, and do not take the books away from the kids or someone else's RESERVED BOX/STACK.
Two boxes of LISTED AND COUNTED BOOKS per person, per visit.
Bring a Friend. Make a Friend. Tell a Friend and make a date to be there.
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