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Publishers Weekly Review

This book presents evolution and human origins in an original fashion. Rather than a traditional essay, Corbella (a science reporter for La Vanguardia, Barcelona) opts to interview three of Spain's foremost archaeologists and paleontologists: Eudald Carbonell and Robert Sala (both of whom have worked at Atapuerca, the most important fossil site in Europe, where the partial remains of hominid antecessors were discovered in 1997) and Salvador Moy? (whose 1991-3 excavations at Can Llobateres found a 9.5-million-year-old, nearly complete skeleton of an extinct ape known as Dryopithecus). In an accessible, lively style, the interviewees address such topics as the first primates, bipedalism, brain development, the discovery of fire, and the mystery of the Neanderthals' extinction. The final chapter presents a group discussion in which all three experts hypothesize about the future of human evolution. Also included is an annotated list of recommended readings. This will serve as a good introduction to Carbonell and Sala's more complex Planeta humano (Human Planet, Peninsula, 2000) or Juan Luis Arsuaga's La especie elegida (The Chosen Species, Temas de Hoy, 1998). Highly recommended for public and academic libraries and large bookstores. David Pardue, Univ. of Kansas Libs., Lawrence (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved