In this ground-breaking book Chris Stringer sets out to answer all the big questions in the debate about our origins. How can we define modern humans, and how can we recognise our beginnings in the fossil and archaeological record? How can we accurately date fossils, including ones beyond the range of radiocarbon dating? What do the genetic data really tell us? Were our origins solely in Africa? Are modern humans a distinct species from ancient people such as the Neanderthals? And what con...

A top researcher proposes a controversial new theory of human evolution in a book "combining the thrill of a novel with a remarkable depth of perspective" ( Nature).In this groundbreaking and engaging work of science, world-renowned paleoanthropologist Chris Stringer sets out a new theory of humanity's origin, challenging both the multiregionalists (who hold that modern humans developed from ancient ancestors in different parts of the world) and his own "ou...

HOMO BRITANNICUS tells the epic history of life in Britain, from man’s very first footsteps to the present day. Drawing on all the latest evidence and techniques of investigation, Chris Stringer describes times when Britain was so tropical that man lived alongside hippos and sabre tooth tiger, times so cold we shared this land with reindeer and mammoth, and times colder still when we were forced to flee altogether. This is the first time we have known the full extent of this history: the A...

The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Project (AHOB) funded by the Leverhulme Trust began in 2001 and brought together researchers from a range of disciplines with the aim of investigating the record of human presence in Britain from the earliest occupation until the end of the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago. Study of changes in climate, landscape and biota over the last million years provides the environmental backdrop to understanding human presence and absence together with the ...

On 21 November 1953, one of the most fascinating puzzles in science was finally solved. Three scientists--Joseph Weiner, Kenneth Oakley, and Wilfrid Le Gros Clark--described their investigations into the important fossilized human remains found at Piltdown in Sussex in the early 1900s. Their conclusion was stunning: the remains, and the accompanying materials that supposedly verified them as ancient fossils, had all been faked. The discovery of Piltdown Man had been announced to the world ...

**Get a science-based introduction to cultural and human evolution—and discover a blueprint for a better future—in this fascinating book for fans of Sapiens and Guns, Germs, and Steel.Who are we, and what makes us different from other species?**Playing on the phrase “a theory of everything” from physics, Michael Muthukrishna’s ambitious, original, and deeply hopeful book A Theory of Everyone draws on the most recent research from across t...

THE REALITY OF SPACE SETTLEMENT: An astrophysicist ponders the ethics of living in space for anyone interested in space exploration and the philosophy of science.Before we embark on Star Trek-type missions, we must first ask: Can we truly do better in space than we’ve done here on Earth?We’ve pinpointed the destination, refined the technology, designed the habitat, outfitted our space residents. Are we forgetting something...

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE BIG BANG? A physics professor offers a theory about the ultimate origin of the universe—and challenges the concept of a multiverse, string theory, and more.In the beginning was the Big Bang: an unimaginably hot fire almost 14 billion years ago in which the first elements were forged. The physical theory of the hot nascent universe—the Big Bang—was one of the most consequential developments in 20th-century science. And yet it leaves...

A "fast-moving, absorbing" account of the years leading up to WWII—a tale of democratic crisis, racial conflict, and a belated recognition of evil ( New York Times Book Review)."Thought provokingly, Hett notes that commonalities between the 1930s and today . . . he suggests that lessons learned by dealing with the Nazi regime could be applied today. This compelling work is highly recommended for those interested in World War II or in the history of ...

This classic book of symbols by Catalan polymath Joan Cirlot illuminates the symbolic underpinnings of myth, modern psychology, literature, and art.“Guides us through what unites us across nations, religions, and literary and artistic traditions.” —Angelica Frey, HyperallergicJuan Eduardo Cirlot’s A Dictionary of Symbols is a feat of scholarship, an act of the imagination, and a tool for contemplation, as well as a work of...

From the award-winning historian of the Holocaust, the first book to move beyond Germany's singular crime to the collaboration of Europe as a whole.The Holocaust was perpetrated by the Germans, but it would not have been possible without the assistance of thousands of helpers in other countries: state officials, police, and civilians who eagerly supported the genocide. If we are to fully understand how and why the Holocaust happened, Götz Aly argues in this groundbr...

This expert guide to plant formation and the origins of life "makes the solar system an even weirder and more wonderful place than it seemed before" ( Wall Street Journal).In 1959, the Soviet probe Luna 3 revealed an astonishing truth: the far side of the moon is an enormous mountainous expanse, completely different from the vast lava-plains on the side facing Earth. But why would the two side of the moon be so different? And what might this tell us about o...