"� truly useful to a wide range of readers within anthropology, including graduate and undergraduate students
as well as professors � There is no better source for finding brief, accurate, and current synopses of the issues,
problems and methods of analysis within the domain of human evolutionary studies."
--American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Submitted by Publisher, July, 2001
Summary
Now in paperback, this encyclopedia is a refreshing introduction to the human species that places modern humans
squarely in evolutionary perspective and treats evolution 'itself' as a continuing genetic process in which every
one of us is involved. Over seventy scholars worldwide have collaborated on the Encyclopedia, which is divided
into ten main sections. The coverage ranges widely from genetics, primatology and fossil origins to human biology
and ecology, brain function and behavior, and demography and disease. Emphasis is placed throughout on the biological
diversity of modern people and the increasing convergence of the fossil and genetic evidence for human evolution
that has emerged in recent years. Boxes highlighting key issues and techniques are provided throughout the text,
and there are numerous maps, photographs, diagrams, and ready-reference tables--all the reader needs in a single
volume to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of how humankind has developed and how scientists set about investigating
the origin of our species.
Table of Contents
Patterns of primate evolution
The life of primates
The brain and language
Primate social organisation
Human evolution in a geological context
The primate fossil record
Primate genetics and evolution
Genetic clues of relatedness
Early human behaviour and ecology
Human populations, past and present
Conclusion: The evolutionary future of humankind