What Does It Mean to Be Human?: Official Companion Book to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins

by Rick Potts, Chris Sloan

This generously illustrated book tells the story of the human family, showing how our species’ physical traits and behaviors evolved over millions of years as our ancestors adapted to dramatic environmental changes.

In What Does It Means to Be Human? Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program, and Chris Sloan, National Geographic’s paleoanthropolgy expert, delve into our distant past to explain when, why, and how we acquired the unique biological and cultural qualities that govern our most fundamental connections and interactions with other people and with the natural world. Drawing on the latest research, they conclude that we are the last survivors of a once-diverse family tree, and that our evolution was shaped by one of the most unstable eras in Earth’s environmental history.

The book presents a wealth of attractive new material especially developed for the Hall’s displays, from life-like reconstructions of our ancestors sculpted by the acclaimed John Gurche to photographs from National Geographic and Smithsonian archives, along with informative graphics and illustrations. In coordination with the exhibit opening, the PBS program NOVA will present a related three-part television series, and the museum will launch a website expected to draw 40 million visitors.

Genres: Science, Evolution, Psychology, Nonfiction, Anthropology

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Martin Crim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published by National Geographic and is the official companion book to the Smithsonian's new Hall of Human Origins. It's an accessible summary of the present state of scientific understanding of human origins, and does a great job of putting things into context. The only thing I can fault it for is not explaining why evidence of cooking may be missing before 800,000 years before the present. According to the book "Catching Fire," hearth fires would be extremely unlikely to show up in the fossil record if they were made and used once or a few times, then abandoned. Other evidence of cooking comes from the reshaped human gut, which was dependent on cooked food for nutrition (cooked food has more available nutrition).

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize that humans are 60% genetically similar to bananas and 98.9% genetically similar to chimpanzees. This book was fascinating. I love reading about our evolutionary history and how much has been learned from fossils and bones that have been found.

[Laura Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A informative read about human origins written as a companion to the exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution. I think anyone interested in early humans and science will enjoy this.