Fossil Hominids: Further Reading

Because of the public interest in human evolution there is a wide choice of good books available, many of them written by leading scientists in the field.

An excellent introduction to human evolution is Johanson and Edgar (1996); it is the most up-to-date book available and also has the best photo gallery anywhere. Tattersall (1995) is also very up-to-date with an excellent discussion of how our knowledge of human evolution has developed. Reader (1981), Johanson and Edey (1981), Leakey and Lewin (1992), and Tattersall (1993) are good books at a slightly more popular level. An excellent recent book about Homo erectus is Walker and Shipman (1996). Good sources about the Neandertals are Trinkaus and Shipman (1992), Shreeve (1995), and Gore (1996). For historical background, try Morell (1995), a fascinating biography of the Leakey family.

Short articles which give a good account of human evolution are Weaver (1985) (which has good comparative photographs), Brace (1983) and Berra (1990).

Sources which address creationist arguments about human evolution are Strahler (1987), and the Winter 1986-87 issue of Creation/Evolution, a journal of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE).

Good anthropology textbooks include Klein (1989), Feder and Park (1989), and Campbell (1988). Other academic works of interest are Brace et al. (1979), which contains line drawings and brief descriptions of about 50 important fossils, and Day (1986), which contains an extensive and detailed list of fossils obtained from about 50 major sites, along with many photographs. Larsen (1998) also contains drawings and descriptions of many major fossils. For extremely detailed and technical descriptions of many important fossils, see Wood (1991) or Tobias (1991).

The best creationist book on human fossils is probably Lubenow (1992). Lubenow has studied the scientific literature extensively, and limits his arguments to fossils accepted by evolutionists. His work is of a considerably higher standard than any other creationist literature I have read on the subject. Gish (1985) is a very influential creationist book with a large chapter on human evolution; an updated version has also been released (Gish 1995). Another creationist book is Bowden (1981), although it concentrates heavily on older fossils. Cuozzo (1998) has also written a creationist book concentrating on the Neandertals.

Also, visit the Paleoanthropology Links page for lists of evolutionist and creationist web pages which discuss human origins, and the Paleoanthropology Fiction page for a list of fictional works about human evolution.

References

Berra T. (1990): The evolution of life and the rise of humans. In Evolution and the myth of creationism. (pp. 70-119). Stanford,California: Stanford University Press.

Bowden M. (1981): Ape-men: fact or fallacy? Ed. 2. Bromley,Kent: Sovereign.

Brace C.L., Nelson H., Korn N., and Brace M.L. (1979): Atlas of human evolution. Ed. 2. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Brace C.L. (1983): Humans in time and space. In L.R. Godfrey (Ed.), Scientists confront creationism. (pp. 245-82). Toronto: George J. McLeod.

Campbell B.G. (1988): Humankind emerging. Ed. 5. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Cuozzo J.W. (1998): Buried alive: the startling truth about Neanderthal man. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books.

Day M.H. (1986): Guide to fossil man. Ed. 4. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (an extensive listing of major hominid fossils)

Feder K.L. and Park M.A.: Human antiquity: an introduction to physical anthropology and archaeology, Mountain View, California:Mayfield Publishing, 1989. (an introductory university-level anthropology textbook)

Gish D.T. (1985): Evolution: the challenge of the fossil record. El Cajon, CA: Creation-Life Publishers.

Gore R. (1996): Neandertals. National Geographic, 189(January):2-35.

Johanson D.C. and Edey M.A. (1981): Lucy: the beginnings of humankind. New York: Simon and Schuster. (a short history of paleoanthropology, and the discovery and analysis of Australopithecus afarensis)

Johanson D.C. and Edgar B. (1996): From Lucy to language. New York: Simon and Schuster. (up-to-date, with a superb photo gallery)

Klein R.G. (1989): The human career: human biological and cultural origins. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (an excellent textbook on human evolution)

Larsen C.S. (1998): Human origins: the fossil record. Ed. 3. Waveland Press.

Leakey R.E. and Lewin R. (1992): Origins reconsidered: in search of what makes us human. New York: Doubleday.

Lubenow M.L. (1992): Bones of contention: a creationist assessment of human fossils. Grand Rapids,MI: Baker Books. (the best creationist book on human fossils)

Morell V. (1995): Ancestral passions: the Leakey family and the quest for humankind's beginnings. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Reader J. (1981): Missing links: the hunt for earliest man. Boston,MA: Little,Brown. (a popular history of paleoanthropology, with many good pictures)

Shreeve J. (1995): The neandertal enigma: solving the mystery of human origins. New York: William Morrow. (covers current debates about Neandertals and the appearance of modern humans)

Strahler A.N. (1987): Science and earth history: the evolution/creation controversy. Buffalo: Prometheus Books. (an encyclopedic resource on creationist arguments)

Tattersall I. (1995): The fossil trail: how we know what we think we know about human evolution. Oxford,NY: Oxford University Press.

Tobias P.V. (1991): Olduvai Gorge, volume 4: the skulls, endocasts and teeth of Homo habilis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Trinkaus E. and Shipman P. (1992): The Neandertals: changing the image of mankind. New York: Alfred E. Knopf. (an excellent history of thought about Neandertals)

Weaver K.F. (1985): The search for our ancestors. National Geographic, 168(November):560-623.

Wood B.A.: Koobi Fora research project, volume 4: hominid cranial remains, Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1991. (a detailed study of fossils from the East Rudolf area)

This page is part of the Fossil Hominids FAQ at the talk.origins Archive.