Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.20 (796 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1531888291 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 404 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-07-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Astonishing in its scope, brilliant in its insights, and an absolutely compelling read, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a triumph of popular science.Introductory music from the original score for COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey composed by Alan Silvestri, used with permission from Cosmos Studios, Inc. and Chappers Music. Special thanks to Fuzzy Planets, Inc.. World renowned scientist Carl Sagan and acclaimed author Ann Druyan have written a Roots for the human species, a lucid and riveting account of how humans got to be the way we are. It shows with humor and drama that many of our key traits--self-awareness, technology, family ties, submission to authority, hatred for those a little different from ourselves, reason, and ethics--are rooted in the d
Yet society's problems, they assert, increasingly demand global solutions and require a dramatic, strategic shift which the authors optimistically believe humankind is capable of achieving. From Publishers Weekly In a leisurely, lyrical meditation on the roughly four-billion-year span since life dawned on Earth, Sagan and Druyan ( Comet ) argue that territoriality, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, occasional outbreeding and a preference for small, semi-isolated groups are elements in a survival strategy common to many species, including Homo sapiens. This engaging, humane odyssey offers a stunning refutation of the behavioristic worldview with its mechanistic notion that animals (except for humans) lack conscious awareness. First serial to Parade. The last third of the book, dealing with chimpanzees, baboons and apes, is the most interesting. Sagan and Druyan find chimps' social life "hauntingly familiar" with its hierarchy, combat, suppression of females and chimps'
I liked it I like his other works. This is similar, yet different. Not a straight through read for me. A lot of pages. Good to get back to every so often, or on a rainy day. Good to get back to occasionally as well.. Wonderfully written with very serious scientific flavor Incredibly powerful. Well documented. Wonderfully written with very serious scientific flavor, punctuated by light humor and philosophical side trips. This actually is the first book I have read by Carl Sagan, though I have enjoyed many of his documentaries and am further impressed by the talent and depth of understanding he had and his wonderful way of sharing even the most dry technical . One of the best books I've ever read! Even after all the amazing fiction books I've ever read, this book by far surpasses any of the other great ones I have ever read. This book literally describes the history of our existence, of all life on earth, from the beginning of our solar system. The great difference between this book and some other science book is that Sagan uses his amazing writing skills to make it as though you're