Review by Choice Review
This engagingly written book is a scientific autobiography of DeSilva's love affair with human feet. In every section of the book, he introduces readers to the people and places he visited to develop his unparalleled knowledge of human feet, their evolution, and their functioning. In part 1, he looks at the nature of bipedalism in various living and fossil species and exactly how early hominins developed efficient bipedalism, though he is careful to note that the whys are not entirely clear. In part 2, DeSilva (Dartmouth College) looks at the effects of bipedalism on the further evolution of human behavior and structure. Finally, in part 3, he looks at the problems, as well as the joys, that bipedalism has yielded. This is a wonderful book that anyone interested in how humans came to be will enjoy. Although the dearth of illustrations diminishes the volume's usefulness as a course text, this reviewer thinks that everyone who reads it will learn something new and enjoy meeting all the scientists DeSilva visits in his travels. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels. --LUCILLE Lewis JOHNSON, emerita, Vassar College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Paleoanthropologist DeSilva (A Most Interesting Problem) takes readers on a brisk jaunt through the history of bipedalism. Humans are the only living mammals to walk upright, the author notes, and in exploring how and why, he reveals what the fossil record says about the history of human evolution, migration, and social organization. "Homo erectus almost certainly moved in and out of Africa in pulses" rather than in one big wave, for example, and he describes various primate fossils that led to new discoveries in bipedalism, including those of Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old skeleton whose bones confirmed "bipedalism appeared early in our evolutionary history." DeSilva argues bipedalism is a "prerequisite for changes that define our species" as it freed up hands for tool-making, and investigates its implications on modern human life, including the creative benefits of walking and the complications it introduces into giving birth. DeSilva's love of fossil discovery and of collaborating with colleagues comes through in the wonder he experiences in examining bones firsthand: "Light reflected from it as if it were a geode, not an ancient human fossil. I hadn't expected Taung to be so beautiful." DeSilva's ability to turn anatomical evidence into a focused tale of human evolution and his enthusiasm for research will leave readers both informed and uplifted. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Aevitas Creative Management. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Why, how, and when did human ancestors first walk on two feet? Why are humans so uniquely bipedal, at least among mammals? DeSilva (anthropology, Dartmouth Coll.; A Most Interesting Problem) tackles these issues in his latest work. Its scope includes the several-million-year prehistory of bipedal hominins. DeSilva has a gift for identifying important but often overlooked observations regarding bipedalism; for instance, he notes that humans are quite clumsy compared to four-legged mammals. He also discusses anatomical differences between human bipedalism and bird bipedalism. Readers will glean a solid framework of human origins, including the divergence of chimpanzee and hominin ancestors some six million years ago. He discusses various theories attempting to explain human bipedalism, such as the aquatic ape hypothesis. Other ideas, such as the ability to carry food with freed arms, offer plausible scenarios favoring bipedalism. While the subject of human evolution might seem daunting--especially discussions of the relationships between ape and hominin ancestors--DeSilva uses personable language and always keeps it interesting. VERDICT DeSilva provides a scholarly yet accessible conversation on the origins of human bipedalism. A great introduction to human origins, anthropology, and primatology for general audiences. Includes recent discoveries that are updates to previous popular works.--Jeffrey Meyer, Iowa Wesleyan Univ.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Big brains, opposable thumbs, and tool use made humans masters of the planet, but walking upright came first. In this fine account, Dartmouth paleoanthropologist DeSilva writes that humans are "the only fully bipedal ape," and there is no shortage of explanations of how we evolved that way. Darwin speculated that standing freed our hands to make tools, which jump-started the growth of our brains. It's sound logic, but common sense is no substitute for evidence, and fossils reveal that hominids walked long before they made tools. DeSilva makes a solid scientific case with an expert history of human and ape evolution, emphasizing the importance of food. Humans have a nongrasping big toe in line with the other toes, which are short and bend upward as we walk. This is the opposite of all other primates, whose toes are long and bend downward for grasping. Since Darwin's time, fossils reveal ancient but upright hominids close to 6 million years old, the accepted period when hominid and ape evolution diverged. Since all living apes walk on their knuckles, researchers yearned to discover the first primate who rose up to become the founding proto-human. It turns out he or she may not have existed. Ardipithecus, perhaps the oldest hominid, walked upright despite possessing feet with some apelike features, and this was also a feature of ape fossils from the period before the common ancestor. As a result, some (but not all) anthropologists believe that knuckle-walking is not a primitive trait; modern apes evolved it. One scientist pointed out, "Asking why humans stood up from all fours is the wrong question….Perhaps we should instead be asking why our ancestors never dropped down on all fours in the first place." DeSilva devotes the final 100 pages to the generally dismal consequences of bipedalism: dangerous childbirth, backaches, hernias, knee injuries, bunions, etc. On the bright side: Walking is good for us. Accessible, valuable popular anthropology. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
