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Almost Human
- The Astonishing Tale of Homo Naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Categories: History, World
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Fantastic book!
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I have read a number of books on early hominoids - this is amongst the best
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Sixty-six million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today a new generation of dinosaur hunters, armed with cutting-edge technology, is piecing together the complete story of how the dinosaurs created a hugely successful empire that lasted for around 150 million years.
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so glad I didn't let performance get in the way
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A nice precursor to Guns, Germs and Steel
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Fantastic book!
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I have read a number of books on early hominoids - this is amongst the best
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A nice precursor to Guns, Germs and Steel
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short
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Worthwhile Update
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In Origins, Frank H. T. Rhodes explores the origin and evolution of living things, the changing environments in which they have developed, and the challenges we now face on an increasingly crowded and polluted planet. Rhodes argues that the future well-being of our burgeoning population depends in no small part on our understanding of life's past, its long and slow development, and its intricate interdependencies.
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an outstanding book in writing and reading
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How did we get here? All cultures have a creation story, but a little over 150 years ago, Charles Darwin introduced a revolutionary new one. We, and all living things, exist because of the action of evolution on the first simple life form and its descendants. In How Evolution Explains Everything About Life, leading biologists and New Scientist take you on a journey of a lifetime, exploring the questions of whether life is inevitable or a one-off fluke and how it got kick-started.
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The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt
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Masterfully tying together history, science, and human drama, The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt is the gripping account of two of the 20th century's great expeditions of discovery. In 1911 a German paleontologist found the remains of four entirely new dinosaurs in the Egyptian desert, but in a single night, all of his work was destroyed. Eighty-nine years later, an American grad student leads an expedition to unearth Stromer's dinosaur graveyard, and in doing so, he stuns the scientific world.
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Entertaining while educating
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The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
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'Somebody's going to be murdered at the ball tonight. It won't appear to be a murder, and so the murderer won't be caught. Rectify that injustice and I'll show you the way out.' It is meant to be a celebration, but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed. But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden - one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party - can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself over and over again.
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Oh My Goodness
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The Fossil Hunter
- Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World
- By: Shelley Emling
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Mary Anning was only 12 years old when, in 1811, she discovered the first dinosaur skeleton - of an ichthyosaur - while fossil hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England. Until Mary's incredible discovery, it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct.
Summary
A story of defiance and determination by a controversial scientist, this is Lee Berger's own take on finding Homo naledi, an all-new species on the human family tree and one of the greatest discoveries of the 21st century.
In 2013, Lee Berger, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, heard of a cache of bones in a hard-to-reach underground cave in South Africa. He put out a call around the world for petite collaborators - men and women small and adventurous enough to be able to squeeze through eight-inch tunnels to reach a sunless cave forty feet underground. With this team, Berger made the discovery of a lifetime: hundreds of prehistoric bones, including entire skeletons of at least 15 individuals, all perhaps two million years old. Their features combined those of known prehominids like Lucy, the famous Australopithecus, with those more human than anything ever before seen in prehistoric remains. Berger's team had discovered an all new species, and they called it Homo naledi.
The cave quickly proved to be the richest prehominid site ever discovered, full of implications that shake the very foundation of how we define what makes us human. Did this species come before, during, or after the emergence of Homo sapiens on our evolutionary tree? How did the cave come to contain nothing but the remains of these individuals? Did they bury their dead? If so, they must have had a level of self-knowledge, including an awareness of death. And yet those are the very characteristics used to define what makes us human. Did an equally advanced species inhabit Earth with us, or before us? Berger does not hesitate to address all these questions.
Some colleagues question Berger's interpretation of this and other finds. Here, this charismatic and visionary paleontologist counters their arguments and tells his personal story: a rich narrative about science, exploration, and what it means to be human.
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What listeners say about Almost Human
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Becky
- 18-11-20
So interesting
a really well written book and very interesting! the language is easy to understand and it never makes you feel out of depth, thoroughly enjoyed it!
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- Miss J. Davidson
- 06-09-19
great book but poor pronunciation
it's a great book with wonderful information and as an archaeology student the story is fascinating but unfortunately the narrator is very American and didn't bother to learn the pronunciation of the South African words which definitely detracted from the whole experience. for example he says Wits but it is actually pronounced Vits. Otherwise good.
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- AReader
- 11-05-19
Very interesting
Lee Berger describes in great detail the methods by which he discovered and explored a cave in South Africa full of bones of a previously unknown hominid. If anthropology interests you, it is a good story and raises important questions about scientific method before we even get on to the questions about the bones themselves. For instance, in 2019 does it not seem appropriate to publish computer generated images of/information about the bones among scientists worldwide? Previously it seems scientists would sometimes jealously guard bones to themselves for decades without letting anybody else even look at them.This surely cannot be the most effective way of developing ideas. Berger remarks that many of the new generation of anthropologists are female. I wonder if this might change typical methods of research.
As for the question of human evolution, no doubt there is much debate about the place of this creature and I am not in a position to comment. However, what with finding the Neanderthal DNA, discovering the Denisovans and now the Naledi, it seems we may be learning a lot more about the family tree of homo sapiens.
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- Mrs J H Kingdon
- 03-03-19
really interesting and a good adventure story
a fascinating insite into the hint for our ancestors and the conflicting views of academics on the approach
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- Peter Matthews
- 14-01-19
A deep story on the rocky trail to human origins
As a former student of anthropology, archaeology and human evolution I found this story to be gripping. The author's path to human origins research began with childhood experiences that were similar to my own in many ways, though my own research area is very different. The story is well told and well read. We are introduced to the history of human fossil research, different kinds of human, and the scientific process... including the ways that results are debated, interpreted and disseminated.
The author's lifelong study of other kinds of human may actually parallel his suggestion that our ancestors also learned from other kinds human - as well as mixing with them (going to bed with them, so to speak).
As a scientist, I'm inspired by this book to think about how I might present my own work to wider audiences. But the book is not just for scientists, it is for all of us who are curious about those fingers typing on the keyboard in front of us.
6 people found this helpful
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- Frank's "Library"
- 04-09-20
This was excellent!
This was quite a listening adventure. Well done. The narrator was fantastic. Never a dull moment. It was like I was part of the story and part of the team. Thanks.
4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 20-01-20
Worth even for those acquainted with the story
The text is good, it reads like a suspenseful thriller. The science is well researched and presented in a clear and simple (but not simplistic) manner. I got annoyed sometimes by the intonation of the reader, especially when he was presenting dialog lines, but overall the reading was clear and easy to follow. I really enjoyed the story itself - though I have already seen the documentaries based on this work, the book adds so much context and background that I feel it was really worth it.
4 people found this helpful
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- Andi Rosenmeier
- 08-11-20
More Vanity than Anthropology
Seven chapters in and I can tell you many useless things about this man, yet very little about Early Man.
3 people found this helpful
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- Mike
- 16-06-20
Not what I thought!
Much less of a story about human evolution that I was expecting and more of a chronicle of Lee's personal journey of discovery.
Interesting but not informative.
3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-09-20
Exciting Story!
Perfect weekend read. I was nervous that this book might be bogged down with scientific terms I didn't understand, but I was wonderfully surprised! Easy read for any layman who has a basic understanding of anthropology. The story is enticing and taps into the adventurer inside of everyone..finished it in just two days!
2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 21-12-19
fascinating, intelligent, and entertaining
an interesting account well-told. author explains but doesn't talk down. narrator matches the book well...i hadn't looked so didn't realize until the end that it wasn't read by the author. ending made me laugh with delight and go look for what he is up to now.
2 people found this helpful
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- Susie N.
- 18-10-20
Great Story, Well Told
Terrific book! Full of great information all the way down to the infighting in academia. Fascinating story of naledi told in an honest, human and enlightening way. Great expository writing. My only problem is with the narrator, whose voice is great but he mispronounces words.
1 person found this helpful
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- evan sayre
- 15-07-20
Great book
Great book. Great narrator. Only flaw: Multiple editing issues (repeated dialogue in a few places)
1 person found this helpful
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- Randall McCutcheon
- 09-02-21
Says "science" a lot
I have noticed that when their grasp of science is weak, popular science writers tend to use the word "science" a lot, ostensibly to convince people (themselves included, I think) that they are familiar with the concept. Overuse of the word here is distracting.