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The Cradle of Humanity: How the changing landscape of Africa made us so smart
Humans are rather weak when compared with many other animals. We are not particular fast and have no natural weapons. Yet Homo sapiens currently number nearly 7.5 billion and are set to rise to nearly 10 billion by the middle of this century. We have influenced almost every part of the Earth system and as a consequence are changing the global environmental and evolutionary trajectory of the Earth. So how did we become the worlds apex predator and take over theplanet?Fundamental to our success is our intelligence, not only individually but more importantly collectively. But why did evolution favour the brainy ape? Given the calorific cost of running our large brains, not to mention the difficulties posed for childbirth, this bizarre adaptation must have given our ancestors a considerable advantage. In this book Mark Maslin brings together the latest insights from hominin fossils and combines them with evidence of the changing landscape of the East AfricanRift Valley to show how all these factors led to selection pressures that favoured our ultrasocial brains. Astronomy, geology, climate, and landscape all had a part to play in making East Africa the cradle of humanity and allowing us to dominate the planet.
254 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 18, 2017
12 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
Mark Maslin
20 books34 followersProfessor Mark Maslin FRGS, FRSA is the Director of the UCL Environment Institute and Head of the Department of Geography. He is an Executive Director of Carbon Auditors Ltd/Inc. He is science advisor to the Global Cool Foundation and Carbon Sense Ltd. He is a trustee of the charity TippingPoint and a member of Cheltenham Science Festival Advisory Committee. Maslin is a leading scientist with particular expertise in past global and regional climatic change and has publish over 100 papers in journals such as Science, Nature, and Geology. He has been awarded grants of over £28 million, twenty-six of which have been awarded by NERC. His areas of scientific expertise include causes of past and future global climate change particularly ocean circulation and gas hydrates. He also works on monitoring land carbon sinks using remote sensing and ecological models and international and national climate change policies.
Professor Maslin has presented over 45 public talks over the last three years including Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, RGS, Tate Modern, Royal Society of Medicine, British Museum, Natural History Museum, CLG, and Goldman Sachs. This year he has also join the editorial board of The Geographical Journal. He has supervised 10 Research fellows, 10 PhD students and 19 MSc students. He has also have written 7 popular books, over 25 popular articles (e.g., for New Scientist, Independent and Guardian), appeared on radio, television and been consulted regularly by the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News. His latest popular book is the high successful Oxford University Press “Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction” the second edition was published late last year and has sold over 40,000 copies. He was the led author of the first UCL Environment Institute Policy Report, which was the basis of the Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ program Greenwash (5/3/07). Maslin was also a co-author of the recent Lancet report ‘Managing the health effects of climate change’ and a DIFD Report on Population, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals.
Academic Qualifications
University of Cambridge, Darwin College 1989 - March 1993
PhD The study of the palaeoceanography of the N.E. Atlantic during Pleistocene (Supervisor: Sir N. J. Shackleton FRS).
University of Bristol 1986-1989
BSc (Hons) in Physical Geography First Class
Geology & Chemistry was also studied at honours level. Two dissertations were written
an experimental hydrological investigation of the formation of the karst landscape in the mountains of Mallorca.
a literature review investigating the mechanisms causing global glaciation and deglaciation.
Work Experience
May 2007
Head of Department of Geography
Oct 2006
Professor of Physical Geography
Oct 2002
Reader/Associate Professor in Palaeoclimatology at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Jan 1995 onwards
Lecturer in Palaeoceanography, Palaeoclimatology and Physical Geography at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Aug 1993 to Oct 1995
Research Scientist at the Geologisch Paleontologisches Institut, University of Kiel, Germany, working ODP Leg 155 (Amazon Fan) samples.
Professor Maslin has presented over 45 public talks over the last three years including Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, RGS, Tate Modern, Royal Society of Medicine, British Museum, Natural History Museum, CLG, and Goldman Sachs. This year he has also join the editorial board of The Geographical Journal. He has supervised 10 Research fellows, 10 PhD students and 19 MSc students. He has also have written 7 popular books, over 25 popular articles (e.g., for New Scientist, Independent and Guardian), appeared on radio, television and been consulted regularly by the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News. His latest popular book is the high successful Oxford University Press “Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction” the second edition was published late last year and has sold over 40,000 copies. He was the led author of the first UCL Environment Institute Policy Report, which was the basis of the Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ program Greenwash (5/3/07). Maslin was also a co-author of the recent Lancet report ‘Managing the health effects of climate change’ and a DIFD Report on Population, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals.
Academic Qualifications
University of Cambridge, Darwin College 1989 - March 1993
PhD The study of the palaeoceanography of the N.E. Atlantic during Pleistocene (Supervisor: Sir N. J. Shackleton FRS).
University of Bristol 1986-1989
BSc (Hons) in Physical Geography First Class
Geology & Chemistry was also studied at honours level. Two dissertations were written
an experimental hydrological investigation of the formation of the karst landscape in the mountains of Mallorca.
a literature review investigating the mechanisms causing global glaciation and deglaciation.
Work Experience
May 2007
Head of Department of Geography
Oct 2006
Professor of Physical Geography
Oct 2002
Reader/Associate Professor in Palaeoclimatology at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Jan 1995 onwards
Lecturer in Palaeoceanography, Palaeoclimatology and Physical Geography at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Aug 1993 to Oct 1995
Research Scientist at the Geologisch Paleontologisches Institut, University of Kiel, Germany, working ODP Leg 155 (Amazon Fan) samples.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 14, 2024
In my last read I came across the location the East African rift and this would be the essential cradle of humanity which tickled my interest. Then I also was not sure how the various hominin, our ancestors whom came from this place did actually live and if there was a particular order of their appearance and disappearance from our history..
This book actually gave some insight in this psrticular field and then some. It actually added some new questions about the whole process of evolution. It did not happen in an empty place but was the result of many different things atvthe same time, celestial movements, tectonics, climate, glaciers, water sources etc.
The whole cradle of humanity and its road from the East African Rift now feels more lucky than a sure thing, so many things could have gone wrong.
Still I felt at various moments that I am grossly under educated, which is probably True, and I did learn at lot new ideas. Which is the fun part of reading books were the various field come together to tell a story of evolution.
This is the fun learning new information through reading and finding new roads to travel, and read.
This book is an interesting read even on occassion challenging preconceptions on evolution and the creation of humanity. It did not happen in a vacuüm anyhow.
Well advised to read but beware that some information is more than a challenge. The chapter on celestial mechanics really went over my head, I read it a few times. But still I continued reading simply because the book offers a lot to think about.
Not a book for people expecting the earth being only 5 thousand year old.
This book actually gave some insight in this psrticular field and then some. It actually added some new questions about the whole process of evolution. It did not happen in an empty place but was the result of many different things atvthe same time, celestial movements, tectonics, climate, glaciers, water sources etc.
The whole cradle of humanity and its road from the East African Rift now feels more lucky than a sure thing, so many things could have gone wrong.
Still I felt at various moments that I am grossly under educated, which is probably True, and I did learn at lot new ideas. Which is the fun part of reading books were the various field come together to tell a story of evolution.
This is the fun learning new information through reading and finding new roads to travel, and read.
This book is an interesting read even on occassion challenging preconceptions on evolution and the creation of humanity. It did not happen in a vacuüm anyhow.
Well advised to read but beware that some information is more than a challenge. The chapter on celestial mechanics really went over my head, I read it a few times. But still I continued reading simply because the book offers a lot to think about.
Not a book for people expecting the earth being only 5 thousand year old.
July 20, 2019
This book by Maslin is engaging and riveting as we delve through the history of Earth and explore just how the modern human came into being. You’ll be taken on a ride as the Earths orbit around the sun changes, tectonic plates move creating and destroying continents, and raising and collapsing mountains, as the atmospheric circulation shifts, as the climate changes between ‘normal’ and an ice age until Homo sapiens disperse across the world.
As I arrived on the final page I developed a greater appreciation of how many forces were at play and how perfect conditions had to be for our predecessors to have evolved in East Africa and for our ancient ancestors to have traverse the continents and become the dominant species. Moreover, I gained a deeper appreciation for our place in the world, this book will humble you as it becomes clearer that we’ve always been a part of nature, as we walked on land among other hominids and farther back when we were just primitive primates. We are not the masters of the planet, we are just another specie in the vast biodiversity on this planet who evolved at the right place and the right time to become the dominant animal.
The final chapter on the anthropocene poses just as many questions this book answers and its a tremendous end to book, leaving you pondering what the future of humanity looks like and whether we can reconcile the societies we’ve created with the natural world that created us.
As I arrived on the final page I developed a greater appreciation of how many forces were at play and how perfect conditions had to be for our predecessors to have evolved in East Africa and for our ancient ancestors to have traverse the continents and become the dominant species. Moreover, I gained a deeper appreciation for our place in the world, this book will humble you as it becomes clearer that we’ve always been a part of nature, as we walked on land among other hominids and farther back when we were just primitive primates. We are not the masters of the planet, we are just another specie in the vast biodiversity on this planet who evolved at the right place and the right time to become the dominant animal.
The final chapter on the anthropocene poses just as many questions this book answers and its a tremendous end to book, leaving you pondering what the future of humanity looks like and whether we can reconcile the societies we’ve created with the natural world that created us.
June 7, 2023
This is a (text)book that I read for one of my final courses at Amsterdam University College about human evolution. As such, it provides a great overview of different early hominin species and the geo-biological context in which they evolved.
The first half of this book does a great job to characterize the physical, climatic, and environmental factors that shaped the East African rift system into a hotspot of evolution by establishing high climate variability. Maslin connects all of these different disciplines through clear and informative writing. My favorite part has been the final chapter, in which he summarizes the main trends of human evolution that we know to date and speculates about our future.
Definitely worth a read to get a grasp of important evolutionary processes that still shape us today. Furthermore, compact, coherent, and good use of figures!
The first half of this book does a great job to characterize the physical, climatic, and environmental factors that shaped the East African rift system into a hotspot of evolution by establishing high climate variability. Maslin connects all of these different disciplines through clear and informative writing. My favorite part has been the final chapter, in which he summarizes the main trends of human evolution that we know to date and speculates about our future.
Definitely worth a read to get a grasp of important evolutionary processes that still shape us today. Furthermore, compact, coherent, and good use of figures!
July 22, 2020
The Cradle of Humanity is a superbly written, cogent book that shows how happenstance geological and climatological factors in East Africa shaped human evolution. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2018...
December 7, 2018
Incredible extensive perspective on astronomical and global climatic influences on human evolution.
March 21, 2022
Very interesting account of how the Earth came to its current state and how that shaped human evolution. Maslin explains concepts well but some sections could have used more motivation.
April 7, 2021
I was looking forward to reading this as there seem to be various theories, so I wanted to hear a summary of modern thinking. Well, it has plenty of information, but the author does not put it across very well. It is rather dry, the diagrams can be hard to understand and some need more explanation, and there there is no glossary, which it needs. For example, he talks about "deep ocean formation", but he does not explain what this is, and it is not in the index. Even googling was surprisingly unhelpful. So, I found it frustrating to read, and I think a better populariser of Science could have made it easier to read.
January 26, 2024
Nice to have multiple disciplines of science condensed into one short book explaining how geological and planetary forces created the enabling environment for hominids to appear, and then latterly how lack of inter-species ancestors to feminise and grow cognitively.
Sometimes, though, a bit haphazard and incomplete in some of the explanations.
Sometimes, though, a bit haphazard and incomplete in some of the explanations.
September 17, 2021
Excellent book. A lot of detail on African climate and how it affected human evolution.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews