First Steps
Desilva, JeremyThe nineteenth century philosopher Soren Kierkegaard clearly knew a thing or two about walking, when he said, 'Every day, I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness'. He would not have been aware of the anatomical and evolutionary history that has allowed humankind to walk upright but paleoanthropologist Jeremy Desilva does.
With these details at his fingertips, readers are confidently escorted through seven million years of evolution, exploring the history of bipedalism and its role in our well-being.
Lively, informative and peppered with engaging personal anecdotes, this is a fascinating account of 'how walking upright made us human'.
Pages
268
268
Year
2021
2021
Reviews
24-09-2024
We were interested in learning about our ancient origins and development, and these fascinating fossil discoveries. Our ex-science teacher member found a documentary on the subject to watch at our meeting, and was helpful in guiding our discussion. And the notes were very good too.
04-07-2024
Very interesting theories. The book challenged perceptions of the origin and development of man. Not everyone in our group read the book but those who did enjoyed the compelling writing style which made the topic readable and accessible to many. Some felt it didn't have a conclusion with lots of theories being shared. They also weren't sure about the audience and would have liked more pictures and maps to help support the text.
18-04-2024
The group thought the book was in 2 halves. They were interested in the second half with the author's theories of how bipedalism has affected us. Some of the names in the first half proved challenging for some members. A lot of discussion.
30-10-2023
Fascinating insight into the origin of homo sapiens and bipedalism, and how the way we walk upright influences other facets of our lives such as childbirth, arthritis in knees and hips, hernias etc. Descriptions of reactions of scientists to others' hypotheses and reluctance to share information on findings was interesting and very human!
12-09-2023
A few did not finish this book but those that did were well rewarded. Though it was written in a simple chatty style, we were quite overwhelmed by the detail! We learnt a lot and had a great discussion, particularly about subjects with which we were familiar - eg. childbirth.
11-05-2023
A very enjoyable, easy scientific book to read. It was so full of interesting facts that the group felt a re read would open up even more doors of knowledge and things to discuss.
09-03-2023
Group loved this book - stimulating, educational, funny, and intelligent.