Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful!
Review: There are so many anthropology books to choose from! Why read this book? Simple. It keeps you hooked from beginning to end and leaves you wanting more! Dr.Berger asks a question that I too would like to know the answer to...Why isn't there more focus on post-cranial evidence? His writing is excellent. I can't wait for Dr. Berger to write more!
Rating:
Summary: These little apes were our ancestors.
Review: This book brings closer to our imagination the Australopithecs and other ape-like creatures that were our ancestors. A job well done! An honest book as well, as there are many secrets still to be unveiled.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting But Not Flawless
Review: This book is an interesting book on Human Origins that shifts attention away from East Africa to South Africa. It makes one aware of the vital importance of South African discoveries in the field of paleoanthropology due to the abundance of remains, but points out some of the South African finds' problems as well, such as the difficulty in dating cave remains. Furthermore, Berger provides a nice history of South African Paleoanthropology. Berger also reminds those interested in paleoanthropology about the controversial nature of the field and places himself right in the middle of the controversies of the 1990s with his long arms - short legs theory. This theory is Berger's contribution to anthropological controversy and tries to remove the title of "mother of all humankind" from Lucy and perhaps place it in South Africa (and for sure suggest that earliest H. sapiens come from South Africa). However, here is where his main faults come forth. His chapters on the scientific and technical reasons that Africanus's limb proportions are of importance is sloppy and not convincing. Furthmore, he seems to have taken a real beating from Tim White (co-discoverer of Lucy) who attacks one of Berger's claims of finding a chimp-like tibia associated with Africanus. Berger writes that he survived and even perhaps won this battle, but Tim White seems to me to be the true victor. Moreover, there are plenty of typos in the book, which make reading less smooth than it ougth to be and there are way to few pictures and charts. Even with these flaws, I recommend the book to those interested in paleoanthropology already because it brings one up to speed on all the new finds and re-classification.
Rating:
Summary: SUBTITLED: Adventures of a Whining Anthropologist....
Review: This had the makings of a spectacular book...compelling, controversial, educational...on the cutting edge of the Studies of Human origins...and then Berger began whining. And blaming and demeaning other Anthropologists for his hardships. Berger is [perhaps] a brilliant Anthropologist, progressive and fore-thinking in his research and science. But Gee Whiz!!! Can you stop whining about Dart and Leakey and all the others who "Don't Give Me No Respect?" There are times when Berger's "Poor Me" ramblings made me want to throw the book out the window. But the scholarship is so wonderful, I MADE myself finish the book. Controversy is the key to learning but "GROW UP!!" Leakey and the like have had a lock on Fossil Human studies for a long time. Berger's research and intuition make him way beyond those "Fossil" Anthropologists in quality and delivery. And yet he just won't stop whining!! Respect is earned, and hard won, within the field of Paleoanthropology and the study of Fossil Humans and hominids. Berger would surely earn my respect faster with "quiet" suffering of the hardships of presenting a revolutionary and controversial idea while carrying his hugely compelling "Big Stick" of research and quality interpretation of the Fossil record. Genius of a Man attached to a Baby Bottle!!!
Rating:
Summary: SUBTITLED: Adventures of a Whining Anthropologist....
Review: This had the makings of a spectacular book...compelling, controversial, educational...on the cutting edge of the Studies of Human origins...and then Berger began whining. And blaming and demeaning other Anthropologists for his hardships. Berger is [perhaps] a brilliant Anthropologist, progressive and fore-thinking in his research and science. But Gee Whiz!!! Can you stop whining about Dart and Leakey and all the others who "Don't Give Me No Respect?" There are times when Berger's "Poor Me" ramblings made me want to throw the book out the window. But the scholarship is so wonderful, I MADE myself finish the book. Controversy is the key to learning but "GROW UP!!" Leakey and the like have had a lock on Fossil Human studies for a long time. Berger's research and intuition make him way beyond those "Fossil" Anthropologists in quality and delivery. And yet he just won't stop whining!! Respect is earned, and hard won, within the field of Paleoanthropology and the study of Fossil Humans and hominids. Berger would surely earn my respect faster with "quiet" suffering of the hardships of presenting a revolutionary and controversial idea while carrying his hugely compelling "Big Stick" of research and quality interpretation of the Fossil record. Genius of a Man attached to a Baby Bottle!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Human origin controversies
Review: This new contribution to the debate on human origins seems to me to be addressed to the general reader, rather than to the expert. It is very easy to read, and makes sense of the jumble of conflicting theories about the ancestors of humanity. Whether or not Berger's theories hold water will depend on future fossil discoveries. One of his most exciting revelations is the description of an apparently complete skeleton discovered at Sterkfontein under rather strange circumstances by Ron Clarke, that is in the process of being excavated. This book is largely autobiographical, and provides some interesting (and controversial) insights into the weird and wonderful personalities who populate the world of paleoanthropology. My main complaint is that the book has the sloppiest example of editing that I have ever seen, which is astounding in a National Geographic publication. Apart from the fact that it cries out for more and better illustrations - photographs and drawings - there are an unacceptably large number of typos. I counted at least ten places in which text was repeated or left out. And to use "gate" and "vegeterian" instead of "gait" and "vegetarian" curdles the blood.
Rating:
Summary: In The Footsteps Of Eve
Review: To a large extent this is a personal account of Lee Berger's career. Dr. Berger leads a university department focused on human evolution at Wit in South Africa. The book includes a nice review of the current knowledge of human evolution with a focus on Austalopithicus. The current dogma has been that Lucy's species, or A.anamensis, is our ancestor. Lee Berger presents evidence and conjecture this may not be the case. There is review of what is and isn't known about the genus Homo and about archaic Homo sapiens. Dr. Berger presents his theory that modern man may have developed 130,000 years ago in South Africa. The politics of the community of scientist working on human evolution are discussed. One of the attitudes of the author is that he doesn't get stuck in dogma but acknowledges that our ancestral lineage is open for debate. This is an easy to read book. It was very enjoyable. This is one of the better books I have read on human evolution.
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