This is the first time that the story of evolution has been documented in such amazing visual detail thanks to the work of the renowned Dutch paleoartists, Kennis and Kennis. Staggeringly realistic CGI and model reconstructions from original fossils bring us face to face with our distant ancestors portraying them as never before. Plus, Dr Alice Roberts shares her extensive knowledge helping answer all the big questions and more.
'Dr Alice Roberts may have her name on the cover of this book but there is no doubt in my mind that the real success of this book lies in the talented hands of the Kennis bothers.
Melding fossils with forensic science, their unique talent as paleoartists bring her ideas to life in an uncanny manner. From century to century, from continent to continent, they add flesh to her theories, putting faces on her facts.
A stunning book which Darwin would have been proud to put his name to. Dorling Kindersley succeeds once again in making education entertaining without the dreaded dumbing down!'
Customer Review:
Review by: Kerry Black, 23 November 2011
'Dr Alice Roberts may have her name on the cover of this book but there is no doubt in my mind that the real success of this book lies in the talented hands of the Kennis bothers.
Melding fossils with forensic science, their unique talent as paleoartists bring her ideas to life in an uncanny manner. From century to century, from continent to continent, they add flesh to her theories, putting faces on her facts.
A stunning book which Darwin would have been proud to put his name to. Dorling Kindersley succeeds once again in making education entertaining without the dreaded dumbing down!'
Customer Review:
Review by: Kerry Black, 23 November 2011
'Dr Alice Roberts may have her name on the cover of this book but there is no doubt in my mind that the real success of this book lies in the talented hands of the Kennis bothers.
Melding fossils with forensic science, their unique talent as paleoartists bring her ideas to life in an uncanny manner. From century to century, from continent to continent, they add flesh to her theories, putting faces on her facts.
A stunning book which Darwin would have been proud to put his name to. Dorling Kindersley succeeds once again in making education entertaining without the dreaded dumbing down!'
Customer Review:
Review by: Kerry Black, 23 November 2011
'Dr Alice Roberts may have her name on the cover of this book but there is no doubt in my mind that the real success of this book lies in the talented hands of the Kennis bothers.
Melding fossils with forensic science, their unique talent as paleoartists bring her ideas to life in an uncanny manner. From century to century, from continent to continent, they add flesh to her theories, putting faces on her facts.
A stunning book which Darwin would have been proud to put his name to. Dorling Kindersley succeeds once again in making education entertaining without the dreaded dumbing down!'
Customer Review:
Review by: Linda Charlton, 21 November 2011
'Recently, there has been an increased interest in discovering who our ancestors are; but where does the family tree start? Dr Alice Roberts traces our ancestors from a point around seven million years ago!
The Human Story of Evolution is told through the rich diversity of the fossil record, amazing graphics showing reconstructions of the faces of our ancestors and descriptions of the human fossils and the locations in which they have been found.
A fascinating profile of twenty-three hominins from Sahelanthropus tchadensis to Homo sapiens relates the journey through time of the fossil record from the last common ancestor of humans and apes to the only surviving hominin species, Homo sapiens or modern man. As the first of the Homo genus emerged, we learn how social and cultural skills developed. Discoveries of the manufacture and use of tools, the development of social groups and evidence of adornment are all discussed, together with the less desirable evidence of cannibalistic tendencies from the first European hominin, Homo antecessor! However, the beginning of care for others can be found in the record of Homo georgicus.
Evidence suggests it was not only Homo sapiens that took the fateful journey out of Africa; it is just that no other group survives today. As modern humans spread across the world, colonisation occurred and the hunter-gatherer became a farmer and the need for migration was removed. Spiritual development led to cemeteries and art told the stories unable to be written. Finally, we are left with an outline of the ancient civilisations as they developed.
Further sections on archaeology, the geological record, how fossilisation occurs, primates and the process of reconstruction by Adrie and Alfons Kennis, continues the fascinating journey of discovery.
A thrilling experience through the passage of time; presented in an easy to understand manner with superb graphics that will captivate and delight readers of all ages. '
Customer Review:
Review by: Alan Little, 08 November 2011
'Having read it from cover to cover, I would say that this is a book that you could approach as an adult, teenager or child to skim, browse at leisure or interrogate in detail. You will leave feeling that you were not short-changed, but effortlessly enlightened by the experience. I think it is the combination of Dorling Kindersley’s trademark style of breaking down facts to component level and illustrating well, and the Kennis brothers’ state-of-the-art 3D reconstructions that makes this book stand out from the crowd in terms of its accessibility. Dr Alice Roberts, a qualified anatomist, anthropologist and TV presenter to boot, writes the forward and one of the five chapters of the book, setting the people-friendly style of the accompanying text which is maintained by the authors of the remaining sections, all highly qualified in their subject. At no time patronising, the facts are presented clearly and logically beginning with the formation of the earth and concluding with the rise of civilizations across the planet. A notable feature of the publication is the inclusion of work by Dutch brothers Adrie and Alfons Kennis where ancient skulls are used as a base to construct accurate anthropological representations of the heads as they once were. The results provide the reader with the eerie experience of staring into the face of each of the hominin species as they are introduced throughout the book. The couple of pages describing typical stages in the reconstruction process, carried out by the palaeoartist brothers may be considered by some to be a distraction to the main subject; however, I would suggest that the images resulting from the processes described are a welcome advancement in the illustration of books of this sort and the space given to the process involved provides useful context. In short I found the publication to be an up-to-date, fun, fact-packed, account of the development of the human species in 256 full colour pages. The ease of access to the facts therein, however, makes it very easy to overlook the fact that the book covers a potentially dry and serious subject quite comprehensively.'
Customer Review:
Review by: J Craddock, 05 November 2011
'Following on from the recent documentary series, this book introduces the story of human evolution. For someone like myself, familiar with only the most basic concepts in this subject area, the book is an illuminating and largely accessible resource, providing a wealth of information, although at times it can be hard to keep up with. The central focus of the text is on the various species in the evolution of humans, with case studies identifying the archaeological and physical data for each. The examination of the anatomy based on extrapolations from the fossil finds is particularly interesting. Aside from these case studies, for me the most insightful aspect of the book was the section on human migration, which translates the biological evolutionary story of humans into the geographical and social evolution. Overall, the book provides a fascinating read complemented by superb diagrams and photographs that bring the story of evolution to life.'
Customer Review:
Review by: K Coppen and daughter, 03 November 2011
'The moment this amazing book arrived, my 10 year old daughter was hooked! To try and answer her questions previously was challenging to say the least. Other books we have read, pale in comparison as they appeared like story picture books so my daughter and I could not relate to them very well. Dr Alice Roberts, in addition to her fantastically trained, studied and gifted colleagues are on to a real winner with this book. It is suitable for most ages including small children as they can clearly see from the detailed photographs and the changes happening to our bodies in each evolutionary stage from the information found at present. My daughter''s favourite parts of this book are the family tree and the very detailed stages of recreating the head/face from, at times, a small part of skull. Truly skilled workmanship! What an opportunity to be able to sit and read a factual book relating to humans together with your child, without struggling to find all the answers to their questions. Although I wish the names given to each group were a little shorter! ;o) LOL From the brilliantly designed "timeline" hardbacked cover to the wonderful photography, detailing step by step work, it''s a book designed to be dipped into time and time again, especially as there is so much factual information to absorb. A well presented book on our human ancestral history uniting us all.'
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