Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are PDF

Rating: (83 reviews) Author: Visit Amazon's Carl Sagan Page ISBN : 9780394534817 New from $7.00 Format: PDF

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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. 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. This engaging, humane odyssey offers a stunning refutation of the behavioristic worldview with its mechanistic notion that animals (except for humans) lack conscious awareness. Writing with awe and a command of their material, the husband-wife team cover well-trod terrain while they discuss the evolution of Earth's atmosphere and life forms, the genetic code, the advantages of sexual reproduction. 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' remarkable ability to communicate through symbols. First serial to Parade.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Astronomer Sagan is probably the biggest name in popular science writing, a fact that should assure that his latest book--written with his wife, Druyan--will find a wide audience. Sagan's goal is to explain how luck and natural selection combined to produce human beings after three and a half billion years of life on earth. Human behavior, he stresses, results more from similarities with our animal ancestors than from any unique qualities we may possess. Sagan flounders a bit early on in his effort to explain molecular evolution, but he picks up speed later when the focus shifts to primate behavior. Despite a preference for the overly dramatic phrase at the expense of scientific clarity, the argument is coherent throughout. While this is hardly one of the best books on human evolution, it will likely be very popular, especially in public libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/92.
- Eric Hinsdale, Trinity Univ. Lib., San Antonio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• Hardcover: 505 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (September 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394534816
• ISBN-13: 978-0394534817
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are PDF

Who will ever replace him? Carl Sagan's writings range from excellent to outstanding, and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors ranks at the zenith of his efforts. Taking us along the history of life, he vividly explains how close we are to the other animals inhabiting this planet. The theme rests on the continuity of life, from the simplest cells through the complex creatures. Since zoology for so long focused on the 'special place' of humanity in nature, Sagan builds an exceptional case for returning us to our true origins. With the prejudices we've inherited from our various cultures, the task is daunting, but he manages it with irrefutable logic. His prose brings our associates in the animal kingdom into distinct focus, overcoming human penchants for uniqueness with clarity and wit. Copernicus removed us from the centre of the universe. Darwin showed life as an evolutionary process. Sagan removes the final veil of our self aggrandizement.

Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan state that this book began as "a study of the political and emotional roots of the nuclear arms race." While tracing back those aspects of human nature that nearly brought civilization to the brink of destruction, they found themselves delving deep into the origins of man and into the evolutionary heritage of life itself. Apparently the book's scope grew in the telling, yet the authors still manage to address the primary issue and support their case with an abundance of examples, analogies, and anecdotes.

The book has the following basic structure:

First the authors attempt to demonstrate the intrinsic relationship of all life forms. They explain the basic mechanisms of evolution and genetics, along with the pros and cons of sexual reproduction. The authors also spend a decent amount of time on the idea of group (kin) selection, especially in relation to altruism and overcrowding.

After the basics, Sagan and Druyan spend a number of chapters examining the social behaviors of our closest relatives: the non-human primates. They focus primarily on the sexual oppression, dominance hierarchies, xenophobia, and incest taboos which are found in many non-human primates; however, the authors also include a few examples that most people would find commendable.

Finally, the authors consider what it means to be human and attempt to support the claim that humans differ from other animals more in the degree of our particular aptitudes, rather than by possessing a truly unique set of abilities. In the process they refute a wide variety of objections held by critics of this notion.