杏吧原创

The Origin of Our Species by Chris Stringer combines anecdote and speculation with crisp explanation of the latest science in the study of the first humans

I ADMIT it was with some trepidation that I began to read Chris Stringer鈥檚 new book, The Origin of Our Species, on a long train journey. I mention the train because I wondered if I was fit to survive hours spent captive with the Darwinian prose suggested by the title. I needn鈥檛 have worried. Stringer has a crisp style that helps lighten what might have been heavy material.

Stringer鈥檚 work as the lead researcher in human origins at the Natural History Museum in London has given him unique insight and knowledge about applying new technology to human fossils 鈥� from traditional skeletal analysis right up to synchrotron scanning and extraction of ancient DNA. Though his liberal sprinkling of personal anecdotes does have its risks, at its best the narrative is like ambling through a museum, lingering at interesting places.

I think many readers will be surprised at just how much cutting-edge science is now used within palaeoanthropology. Specialised techniques give us real information about growth and development, the animal and plant foods in ancient diets, effects of climate oscillations, the chronology of archaeological sites, and of course DNA. We now even know remarkable things about the parasites that lived in and upon us.

Yet sandwiched between his exploration of these advances enabled by new technology are three chapters about archaeology, behaviour and symbolism, where the science gets a bit squishier. Stringer is overly charitable to some flighty ideas, some of which he confesses to disbelieve but nevertheless imposes on the reader. As a result, these chapters seem weak because of a genuine contrast in the science. We have not yet found methods that unlock the origin of human cognition, for instance.

The book is the first popular treatment to take on board the recent sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the discovery of Neanderthal DNA in living people. Stringer discusses the findings ably and explains why scientists are not unanimous about their importance. Ancient DNA is quickly becoming a major source of evidence about human origins and many surprises lie in store.

It鈥檚 an engaging read, but the quick pace of science will unfortunately soon make some parts of this book obsolete; already, a cave Stringer describes as 鈥渘ot yet properly published鈥� has been, while a new study that isn鈥檛 mentioned has added much complexity to the Y chromosome record of evolution in Africa. My advice: read this book soon.