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Ape into Man: A Study of Human Evolution
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Sherwood L. Washburn
9 booksSherwood Larned Washburn was an American physical anthropologist and pioneer in the field of primatology.
He earned a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology from Harvard University in 1935, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1940.
After obtaining his Ph.D. he became an associate professor of anatomy in Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. From 1947 until 1958 he was professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, for a time serving as department chair. He then accepted a professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, position that he held until his retirement in 1979.
He earned a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology from Harvard University in 1935, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1940.
After obtaining his Ph.D. he became an associate professor of anatomy in Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. From 1947 until 1958 he was professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, for a time serving as department chair. He then accepted a professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, position that he held until his retirement in 1979.
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January 28, 2025
A BOOK TO PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW FOR ANTHROPOLOGY STUDENTS
Sherwood Washburn wrote in the Preface to the 1980 revised edition of this 1974 book, “This book, intended to be useful in a wide range of anthropology courses, provides a glimpse of the changing view of human evolution. The main sources for that view are discoveries and datings of fossils and stone tools that help us describe the past; field studies of living primates that tell us what our nearest relatives are like; and advances in molecular biology and immunochemistry that illuminate our relationships to other primates, past and present… since 1974 new research in each area has settled some controversies and opened others. Our picture of human evolution is in many ways vastly different and based on far stronger methods of proof… we have included some history in order to put the changing views of evolution into perspective, but we have tried to avoid discussing issues that are now only of historical interest…
"As before, also, we stress behaviors, because the course of evolution is determined by natural selection---that is, by the behaviors that led to survival. This book is based on conversations between the authors and the joint use of many sources. One of us (S.L. Washburn) is responsible for the scientific point of view, and the other (Ruth Moore) for the mode of presentation.”
They note, “The average human brain is about triple the size of the brain of the ape---some 1,200 to 1,500 cc as compared with 400 to 699 cc for the apes. The human brain resembles the basic ape brain but with several new added areas, which make possible hand skills, speech, improved memory, and the use of memory that involves conscious thought and planning.” (Pg. 36)
They acknowledge, “When we wrote the first edition of this book, we thought it would be possible to make at least an informed guess about the sexual behaviors supposed to be major differences between ape and human do not exist.” (Pg. 47)
They observe, “The difference between an ape’s throwing and a child’s is that the ape does not aim accurately. Neither does the ape collect a pile of fist-sized stones and practice throwing them at a tree until it can hit the tree or some other target. In a zoo, however, an ape often develops remarkable skill in throwing objects at anyone it dislikes.” (Pg. 71)
They report, “To test an ape’s ability to make stone tools, R.V.S. Wright let an orangutan watch a human knock off a flake with a hammerstone… With no training, [the ape] quickly learned to make flakes and use them, clearly demonstrating that even the hand of an orangutan is capable of making tools if the animal is given the idea. The basic problem of toolmaking is intellectual rather than motor.” (Pg. 74)
Of controversies over Homo vs. Australopithecus toolmaking, they comment, “One would think that the desire to find human ancestors would have led to accepting the fossils. The previously formed climate of opinion, however, led to the conclusion that the Taung skull was that of an ape, that the first pelvis did not go with the skull, that nothing with so small a brain could not have made tools. It took more than twenty years of discoveries and controversy before the ‘obvious’ conclusions were reached. For thirty years more the ‘obvious’ conclusions were resisted by attempts to show either that the human features of the australopithecines did not exist or that all the finds belonged to a single species. It would be fascinating is a science historian would make a study of the recent controversies; it might help us understand why the fossils were, to use Le Gros Clark’s phrase, ‘Bones of Contention.’” (Pg. 112)
They suggest, “The female australopithecines became gatherers. They apparently picked fruits and roots and brought them back to the camp or cave for the others to share. Thus another human change was occurring: this had not generally happened before. Except for nursing her infant, the female ape, like the male, ate her food where she found it. As soon as the infant was weaned, it [had] to gather food for itself, even though it remained in the company of the mother. Only the chimpanzee will sometimes share a bit with an infant or help an infant pick a piece of fruit.” (Pg. 137)
They state, “Human sexual behaviors were believed to be unique, both because mating was no longer limited to the brief estrus periods and because mating was performed face to face. Much has been made of the social and psychological importance of these supposed new conditions. But recently E. S. Savage-Rumbaugh has shown that pygmy chimpanzees mate throughout the cycle and use a wide variety of copulatory positions, including that of face to face. Actually, both orangutan and gorilla use a wide variety of positions, and the importance of the face-to-face position seems to be a European myth rather than the biological reason for the family.” (Pg. 146)
They explain, “Human speech is something new. It is controlled by the cortex… The vocalizations of nonhuman animals are fundamentally different from human speech. Human beings learn to speak so easily that it is almost impossible to prevent learning of this kind… Thus, although the old speech channel for communications remains, the new speech channel has been added. The new structure that makes learning speech so easy is in the cortex… On the dominant side, usually the left, the speech area is very large; on the opposite side, usually the right, only probing in the motor area causes speech disturbances. Comparison of left and right sides shows that the differences between ape and human is both in the quantity of cortex necessary for speech in human beings and in the lateralization of this ability to one side.” (Pg. 172-173)
They conclude, “The study of evolution should make us vividly aware of the contrast between biological evolution, which created our species, and technical progress, which now dominates the world. There is no use in turning to the old evolutionary answers, to processes requiring almost endless spans of time, when the problems requiring solution are here and now. Evolution should help us to see that the world of modern technical culture is new and that new customs are needed for the problems it has created.” (Pg. 184)
Although more than forty years old, this book is still a useful survey of the evolution (both physical and cultural) of human beings.
Sherwood Washburn wrote in the Preface to the 1980 revised edition of this 1974 book, “This book, intended to be useful in a wide range of anthropology courses, provides a glimpse of the changing view of human evolution. The main sources for that view are discoveries and datings of fossils and stone tools that help us describe the past; field studies of living primates that tell us what our nearest relatives are like; and advances in molecular biology and immunochemistry that illuminate our relationships to other primates, past and present… since 1974 new research in each area has settled some controversies and opened others. Our picture of human evolution is in many ways vastly different and based on far stronger methods of proof… we have included some history in order to put the changing views of evolution into perspective, but we have tried to avoid discussing issues that are now only of historical interest…
"As before, also, we stress behaviors, because the course of evolution is determined by natural selection---that is, by the behaviors that led to survival. This book is based on conversations between the authors and the joint use of many sources. One of us (S.L. Washburn) is responsible for the scientific point of view, and the other (Ruth Moore) for the mode of presentation.”
They note, “The average human brain is about triple the size of the brain of the ape---some 1,200 to 1,500 cc as compared with 400 to 699 cc for the apes. The human brain resembles the basic ape brain but with several new added areas, which make possible hand skills, speech, improved memory, and the use of memory that involves conscious thought and planning.” (Pg. 36)
They acknowledge, “When we wrote the first edition of this book, we thought it would be possible to make at least an informed guess about the sexual behaviors supposed to be major differences between ape and human do not exist.” (Pg. 47)
They observe, “The difference between an ape’s throwing and a child’s is that the ape does not aim accurately. Neither does the ape collect a pile of fist-sized stones and practice throwing them at a tree until it can hit the tree or some other target. In a zoo, however, an ape often develops remarkable skill in throwing objects at anyone it dislikes.” (Pg. 71)
They report, “To test an ape’s ability to make stone tools, R.V.S. Wright let an orangutan watch a human knock off a flake with a hammerstone… With no training, [the ape] quickly learned to make flakes and use them, clearly demonstrating that even the hand of an orangutan is capable of making tools if the animal is given the idea. The basic problem of toolmaking is intellectual rather than motor.” (Pg. 74)
Of controversies over Homo vs. Australopithecus toolmaking, they comment, “One would think that the desire to find human ancestors would have led to accepting the fossils. The previously formed climate of opinion, however, led to the conclusion that the Taung skull was that of an ape, that the first pelvis did not go with the skull, that nothing with so small a brain could not have made tools. It took more than twenty years of discoveries and controversy before the ‘obvious’ conclusions were reached. For thirty years more the ‘obvious’ conclusions were resisted by attempts to show either that the human features of the australopithecines did not exist or that all the finds belonged to a single species. It would be fascinating is a science historian would make a study of the recent controversies; it might help us understand why the fossils were, to use Le Gros Clark’s phrase, ‘Bones of Contention.’” (Pg. 112)
They suggest, “The female australopithecines became gatherers. They apparently picked fruits and roots and brought them back to the camp or cave for the others to share. Thus another human change was occurring: this had not generally happened before. Except for nursing her infant, the female ape, like the male, ate her food where she found it. As soon as the infant was weaned, it [had] to gather food for itself, even though it remained in the company of the mother. Only the chimpanzee will sometimes share a bit with an infant or help an infant pick a piece of fruit.” (Pg. 137)
They state, “Human sexual behaviors were believed to be unique, both because mating was no longer limited to the brief estrus periods and because mating was performed face to face. Much has been made of the social and psychological importance of these supposed new conditions. But recently E. S. Savage-Rumbaugh has shown that pygmy chimpanzees mate throughout the cycle and use a wide variety of copulatory positions, including that of face to face. Actually, both orangutan and gorilla use a wide variety of positions, and the importance of the face-to-face position seems to be a European myth rather than the biological reason for the family.” (Pg. 146)
They explain, “Human speech is something new. It is controlled by the cortex… The vocalizations of nonhuman animals are fundamentally different from human speech. Human beings learn to speak so easily that it is almost impossible to prevent learning of this kind… Thus, although the old speech channel for communications remains, the new speech channel has been added. The new structure that makes learning speech so easy is in the cortex… On the dominant side, usually the left, the speech area is very large; on the opposite side, usually the right, only probing in the motor area causes speech disturbances. Comparison of left and right sides shows that the differences between ape and human is both in the quantity of cortex necessary for speech in human beings and in the lateralization of this ability to one side.” (Pg. 172-173)
They conclude, “The study of evolution should make us vividly aware of the contrast between biological evolution, which created our species, and technical progress, which now dominates the world. There is no use in turning to the old evolutionary answers, to processes requiring almost endless spans of time, when the problems requiring solution are here and now. Evolution should help us to see that the world of modern technical culture is new and that new customs are needed for the problems it has created.” (Pg. 184)
Although more than forty years old, this book is still a useful survey of the evolution (both physical and cultural) of human beings.
Displaying 1 of 1 review