Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind

by Donald C. Johanson, Maitland A. Edey

When Donald Johanson found a partical skeleton, approximately 3.5 million years old, in a remote region of Ethiopia in 1974, a headline-making controversy was launched that continues on today. Bursting with all the suspense and intrigue of a fast paced adventure novel, here is Johanson’s lively account of the extraordinary discovery of “Lucy.” By expounding the controversial change Lucy makes in our view of human origins, Johanson provides a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the history of pealeoanthropology and the colorful, eccentric characters who were and are a part of it. Never before have the mystery and intricacy of our origins been so clearly and compellingly explained as in this astonighing and dramatic book.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Anthropology, History, Evolution, Archaeology, Biology

416 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 1981

About the author

Donald Carl Johanson is an American paleoanthropologist. He is known for discovering the fossil of a female hominin australopithecine known as "Lucy" in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia.

Reviews

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was writing a paleo-historic drama of the life of earliest man. My characters were Homo habilines, but they cohabited Africa with Australopithecines, so to understand the co-stars of my story, I turned to the man who has become the guru of earliest man: Donald Johanson and his amazing find, Lucy.

In his book, Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind (Touchstone Simon & Schuster 1990) Johanson and his co-author, Maitland Edey tell the fascinating tale of how they found Lucy, the most complete skeleton ever uncovered of an Australopithecene, the genus that immediately preceded Homo. Prior to this find, he was pretty much an unknown, toiling with many other paleoanthropologists in search of man's roots, maybe the now defunct 'missing link'. Johanson got an idea, followed it despite adversity, disbelievers, money problems and set-backs. These, he chronicles in the book, sharing every step of his journey with an easy-going writing style, breaking down the complicated science to an amateur's understanding and sharing his innermost thoughts on his discovery and how it changed then-current thinking on man's evolution. I learned not only about Lucy, but how paleoanthropologists do their field work, what their days are like, how they fight to prepare for an expedition, and the politics they must solve both to get there and get back. Johanson also includes well-written descriptions on the background of human evolution, field work in East Africa, the paleo-historic geology of Olduvai Gorge (the famed location where Leakey uncovered so much of our primeval roots), the discussion among scientists that pinned down the human-ness of the genus Homo and what differentiated it from older genus like Australopithecines (Lucy's genus), other animals Lucy likely lived with and survived despite of, how Lucy's age was definitively dated, and more.

Johanson jumps right in with the Prologue, telling us how Lucy came to be discovered, and then takes us back to the story of how he got there and what happened after. Through Lucy's story, we learn about man's beginnings and who that earliest forebear was. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

She had lain silently in her adamantine grave for millennium after millennium until the rains at Hadar had brought her to light again
Bands of Homo erectus would wait in the valleys between the hills for the big game herds that migrated south for the winter. They drove the game into swamps by setting grass fires.
Big men have big brains, but they are no smarter than small men. Men are also larger than women and have consistently larger brains, but the two sexes are of equal intelligence
Desert people the world over shun wadis or defiles as campsites
The ash became wet and, almost like a newly laid cement sidewalk, began taking clear impressions of everything that walked across it
You don't gradually go from being a quadruped to being a biped. What would the intermediate stage be--a triped? I've never seen one of these.
You might not think that erect walking has anything to do with sex, but it has, it has
If one is to jump and snatch, one had better be able to judge distances accurately.
The way to precise distance judgment is via binocular vision: focusing two eyes on an object to provide depth perception
The chimpanzee...is the most adaptable of the apes.
A hen is an egg's way of getting another egg.

For some truly beautiful and realistic drawings of man's predecessors, check out Jay Matternes. I have a slideshow of his early man images on my website, http://delamagente.wordpress.com

[Madly Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The earlier of the stories on Lucy and this is the edition that I read first. The story of finding Lucy and what it meant for Physical Anthropology is just fascinating. I talked more about it in the second edition and continuation of this story. Human evolution is the most fascinating thing to me. My dream, the first I ever had was to do this kind of work. Unfortunately I did not, but the study did able me to do related work over the years locally. I still love puzzles and details. I still love anatomy. I also made many friends over the years doing this. Great book. Johanson is pure genius and a driving personality who changed the way we see our ancestors.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

In it's provision of such detailed, sequential paleoanthropologic evidence of hominid evolution, this book stimulates an intellectual questioning of religion; if a pre-human (afarensis) existed 3.5 million years ago, how does this align with a christian timeline?

The Findings of Four Notable Fossils: Timeline
- Neanderthal Man: 1856, Fuhlrott, Germany
- Java Ape-Man: 1891, Dubois, Java (first known Homo Erectus)
- Paranthropus: 1938, Robert Broom, South Africa (Robust Australopithecine)
- Taung Baby: 1924, Dart (Australopithicus africanus)

What is a species?
"A group of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups" Mayr pg. 143
Isolation is critical; for it is only in isolation - without the opportunity of exchanging genes - that groups of animals or plants will gradually begin to develop behavioural and structural differences. Can be physical or behavioural (i.e they don't recognise each other as suitable partners).

Potassium/Argon Dating
Pg. 192. Need a volcanic sample because, during the process of an eruption, the temperature changes cause crystals that represent a single moment in time and are totally uncontaminated by older Argon. Then take the sample, cook off the Argon and measure it. Because you know how much you started with and the decay rate (3.5 atoms per second), you can then work out the age.

Afarensis pg 274
1.) Had a reasonable range of variation from 3.5 feet tall to five feet tall.
2.) Although small, they were incredibly powerful.
3.) They were bipedal
4.) Their arms were longer than humans
5.) Their hands were like human hands except for a tendency for the fingers to curl a bit more.
6.) Their brains were very small (similar to chimpanzees)
7.) Essentially human bodies with heads more ape-shaped. Jaws large and forward thrusting. Had no chins. Crowns of their skulls were very low. Hairier than modern humans.
8.) No evidence of them using tools
9.) Flourished from 4 million - 3 million years ago. Underwent little to no evolutionary change over this time.

The Hominid Tree pg.286

> Africanus > Robustus
Afarensis
> Habilis > Erectus > Sapiens

Opinions pg. 294
"Every man has the right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has the right to knock him down for it". Samuel Johnson

Reproductive Strategies Pg.321
There are two fundamentally different ways in which an animal can function sexually. It can produce a great many eggs with an investment of very little energy in one egg ("r") or it can produce very few eggs, but put a large investment in each ("k"). E.g Oyster vs. Gorilla. K is far more efficient but has its limits e.g seasonal food failure, illness when only have a baby every 5 years. We are constantly being told that we are exterminating apes. That it true, but it is only the final flourish in what apes have been doing to themselves for some millions of years. Monkeys seem to have found a better balance, they are less intelligent but make up for it by being less k oriented (every 2 years).
If parental care is a good thing, it will be selected for by the likelihood that the better mothers will be more apt to bring up children and thus intensify any genetic tendency that exists in the population toward being better mothers. But increased parental care requires also a greater IQ on the part of the mother and the child, who will also have to be a good mother. That means brain development. Bigger brains require a significant amount of oxygen and energy through the placenta - a large investment on the mother. This reinforces k because the mothers ability to transfer the energy is limited and therefore, she will have fewer offspring. Also need to learn to use the brain and this reinforces a longer childhood, play and social behaviour.

Needed to reduce k and so stood up. To have babies that overlap more, you need to be able to stand up, use less energy and have your hands free. BUT this makes getting food harder because you are less mobile. So you inject males to assist BUT this causes other problems because there would be fighting in the group due to the intelligence. A pair-bonding system reduces this because a male doesn't have to fight with other males for representation in succeeding generations. Do this by getting rid of 'in heat' signals because that drives men crazy. Concentrate more on the individualisation of sexual responses and a women is only sexually exciting to a few males; epigamic differentiation. Males can then leave the group for short periods of time to get food without forfeiting their chance for sexual representation.

[Presley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book revolves around the discovery of the fossil of the Australopithecus Afarensis, Lucy. It is told in the perspective of the man who discovered her, Donald Johanson. Along with the discovery of the oldest hominid fossil, the book also tells about other important archeological finds that contributed to the theory of evolution, such as the Homo Habilis finds at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and Homo Neanderthalensis remains in Shanidar Cave in Iraq and the famed Taung Baby. The book talked about all of the things that separated early humans from apes ( bipedalism, different teeth and arboreal arms). I learned that there are many gaps in the evolutionary scale, since certain pieces of evidence have not been found.
I liked that the book did not just focus on archeology in the field. The book also told about the politics within the world of archeology. It told about secrets, scandals, and notorious archeologists. It was interesting to see that there was so much more behind archeology than we normally hear about. I would recommend this book to people who are really into pre-history and evolution, because those topics are what link all of the different fossils found.

[Rebekah Kohlhepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my now-favorite books of all time. Really, this book is incredible. It makes me wish I had the scientific skill or patience to become a paleoanthropogist. I wish I had the heat tolerance to search for fossils in Africa. I wish I had the scrutiny to be able to analyze fossils and know what they meant. But boy, has it been fascinating to read about the people who do.

Read more: https://sheseeksnonfiction.blog/2019/...

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A memorable book!

When visiting New York's Natural History Museum, I came across a family of australopithecines (display models, of course). What a find! I love those little people! I could have hung out with them for hours but, alas, my companions were calling me to move on, and I had to say goodbye. I feel very drawn to these creatures, and I loved Johanson's book.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw "Lucy" at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana a while ago. It was great to actually see this world famous skeleton of an Australopithecus Afarensis. Lucy is about 3.5 million years old and stood about three feet tall. So tiny!!

[Simon Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling story of discovery that at times is fascinating occasionally can get a bit deep with dating techniques and technology but wading through is more than rewarding.

There’s a few surprises too with other discoveries along the way and interesting explanations of the links between man and ape and you feel like you’re definitely in a journey that is gripping and a riveting read.
Left me wanting more.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey's book LUCY The Beginnings Of Humankind is a fascinating romp through our past that, at times, reads like a popular thrilling mystery novel!

[Kmorgenstern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Others have presented a good summery of what it is about, so I won't repeat it here. What I liked about this book was the very personal insight into the techniques and methods employed by paleontologists and the 'greater picture' of the evolution of that science with regards to its historical context and biases that have shaped it. Lucy is not the end of the line in that evolution and Johanson is well aware of it. More fossils have been found since and more theories have been put forward, and they too, in time, may not be interpreted as they are today. What I liked about this book is how Johanson brought this science to life in the imagination of the reader - a science which on superficial examination might seem rather dusty. I found it fascinating to gain an insight into the actual work, the elaborate and excruciatingly detailed examinations that go into finding a frame of reference to accurately date fossils, to examining scratching patterns of fossil teeth to gain an insight on the diet once consumed by their owners. Johanson manages tow write about all that earnestly and with passion to inspire the reader. Even though, I don't think it would be job for me, but I have gained a great deal of respect for this science and the people who have been bitten by the fossil-hunting bug.

[Raptor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally, I started reading this to force myself to deal with anthropology - it was part of my Human Biology class and I needed to know about it for the exam. However, I didn't like the topic during the lecture - all those monkeys and humanoids were simply boring.
However, when I started reading this book, I could actually feel a lot of Johanson's excitement for his discoveries. The first few chapters are the most interesting ones and the exam is long written (and passed - partly thanks to this book, or the bit of enthusiasm for anthropology it awakened in me), but I decided to finish the book anyway. Can't hurt to learn more, can it?

One of my favourite parts after the exciting tales about finding Lucy and other Australopithecines was the explanation of how K-Ar dating works. It was comprehensible yet detailed enough to satisfy my curiosity (mostly, I still read the Wikipedia article).

While I can't say I loved the book, it was definitely a very interesting read.

[Phil Krogh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone, somewhere must be working on a computer program that can measure and process the thousands of minute variations between hundreds of bones and fossils and conclude what the connections and links are between them. Such a program will save future paleoanthropologists thousands of hours of painstaking work that the author went through while deciding whether or not Lucy was our ancestor, only to be challenged publicly by a famous anthropologist and then having to write this exhaustively thorough book to argue his case.

[Ami Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was really fascinating to learn the history ( so far) of paleoanthropology, as well as the discovery and study of Lucy. I highly recommend this book for any fans of human origins and history.

[Joseph Hofmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read an awful long time ago, need to re-read, if only because it's that good. Reads like a top shelf mystery.

[A YOGAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy: Das kleine Fossil, das die Welt entzwei riss
Dieses Buch markiert die fesselnde – und herrlich selbstbewusst erzählte – Geburtsstunde eines paläoanthropologischen Superstars: Australopithecus afarensis, besser bekannt als Lucy. Das 3,2 Millionen Jahre alte Fossil aus Äthiopien, entdeckt 1974, veränderte die Disziplin nachhaltig. Donald Johanson präsentiert diesen Fund mit dem Elan eines Managers, der gerade das iPhone des menschlichen Stammbaums vorgestellt hat: Hier ist sie, die ferne Ahnin, die spektakulär belegt, dass der aufrechte Gang deutlich älter ist als das große Gehirn. Eine Reihenfolge, die das Selbstbild des Menschen empfindlich korrigierte.
In einer Forschungsszene, die heute so dicht besetzt und zerstritten ist wie ein Erbschaftsprozess ohne Testament, wirkt Lucy rückblickend fast glamourös. Das Fossil verlieh Charles Darwins These von der afrikanischen Wiege der Menschheit endlich ein Gesicht – und was für eines. Johansons Buch ist damit nicht nur ein Forschungsbericht, sondern eine pointierte Biografie jenes aufrecht gehenden, affenähnlichen Wesens, das für Jahrzehnte zur Ikone der Frühmenschenforschung wurde. Zugleich ist die Lektüre ein nostalgischer Genuss für alle, die noch an eine halbwegs lineare „Geschichte der Menschwerdung“ glauben, bevor der Stammbaum endgültig zum unübersichtlichen, wild wuchernden Stammbusch mutierte.

Der heutige Stand der Forschung: Die Wiege ist ein Kontinent
Seit Lucy hat sich der Streit um die „Wiege der Menschheit“ nicht beruhigt, sondern ausgeweitet. Was einst relativ überschaubar erschien, ist heute ein kontinentaler Wettbewerb: Südafrika, Äthiopien, Kenia, Tansania, der Tschad – jede Region präsentiert Funde, die Anspruch auf eine Schlüsselrolle in der Menschheitsgeschichte erheben. Einigkeit besteht nur in Grundzügen: Die Wurzeln der Gattung Mensch liegen in Afrika, der aufrechte Gang entwickelte sich vor etwa sieben Millionen Jahren, und der Weg zum Homo sapiens war alles andere als geradlinig.
Jeder neue spektakuläre Fund – sei er aus Marokko, dem Tschad oder, rhetorisch zugespitzt, aus dem Allgäu – löst prompt Forderungen aus, die gesamte Evolution neu zu schreiben. Der heutige Konsens, wie ihn Paläoanthropologen wie Chris Stringer (Speerspitze der Out-of-Africa-Theorie) formulieren, zeichnet ein deutlich komplexeres Bild als zur Zeit Lucys: Die Entstehung des modernen Menschen ist kein singuläres Ereignis, sondern das Ergebnis zahlreicher evolutionärer Zufälle, verteilt über ein weites geografisches Gebiet und ein langes Zeitfenster. Wahrscheinlich zwischen einer Million und 300.000 Jahren vor heute, irgendwo in Afrika – aber nicht an dem einen Ort, zu der einen Zeit.
Vor diesem Hintergrund bleibt Lucy, trotz aller neuen Funde, ein Meilenstein: weniger als letzte Antwort denn als der Moment, in dem die Menschheit begann, sich ernsthaft und öffentlich über ihre eigenen, erstaunlich bescheidenen Ursprünge zu streiten.

[Fernando Barriga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald Johanson es un paleoantropólogo reconocido a nivel mundial, principalmente por su descubrimiento en 1974 en la región de Afar, Etiopía, de "Lucy", uno de los esqueletos más completos de la especie Australopithecus afarensis conocida a la fecha.
Este libro procede de los estudios sobre distintas especies ancestrales del ser humano que hicieron su aparición millones de años antes del hombre, y la descripción del trabajo de campo en Etiopía que produjo varios fósiles tempranos de dichas especies, para llegar a una descripción notable que combina análisis anatómicos y geológicos que nos llevan a la comprensión actual del Australopithecus afarensis, nuestro ancestro de 3 a 4 millones de años de antigüedad.
El punto central de este genial relato es que la bipedestación precedió por alrededor de un millón de años el uso de las herramientas de piedra y la expansión del cerebro, características tan prominentes en las especies posteriores.
El relato de Johanson sobre las complejas y enredadas ramas de nuestro árbol familiar es tanto una aventura maravillosamente personal como un brillante relato paleoantropológico. Totalmente recomendado para adentrarse y aprender sobre nuestra fascinante historia evolutiva.

[Nandini Karky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of discovering Lucy made me realise how little we know about our origins and how the beginnings of any field are filled with controversies and misguided paths. Another insight was about how no matter if you are scientist, trained in the objective, no-nonsense perception of the world, when an idea has got stuck in your head, you become possessive over it and defend it like any emotion-driven person. The feuds and the fights over something as obscure as fragments of bones and the stories they claim to tell reveal the human psyche.
The idea about human ancestors walking erect even before their brains were large came to fore with this discovery. This made me search for what has happened in the field of paleoanthropology since the discovery of Lucy in the 1970s and came across the discovery of Ardi, an ancestor to Lucy, who lived million years before she did - a tree dweller and an erect walker too, and learn the role of pair bonding in our evolution. In the years ahead, what more would we learn about us? And how can we tell for sure that our inferences are on the right track?

[Halley Parke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, remember this book was written in 1981. We have discovered A LOT of things since then. There is some mention of now-outdated science, most notably the theory on why the dinosaurs died out. That made me chuckle. It was a full nine years before we discovered the asteroid crater that is suspected of killing the dinosaurs. Of course, many of the scientific names given to hominids in the book are now outdated. But, this book is a treasure of information about the journey we made through time to get here. It spans from Neanderthal to Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy).

I was disappointed that the book didn't get as in-depth about Lucy as I expected for a book named after her, but we also have to remember that they didn't really know much about her even a decade after her discovery. This is a great book to get a clear understanding of the history of paleoanthropology and how the field of science works. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in paleontology.

[Amith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very tightly written non-fiction that reads like a thriller and brings down the intricacies of paleoanthropology to us mere mortals. While the central theme of the book is the discovery of Lucy (the fossil), the author does a great job of narrating our evolutionary history as understood by the scientific community, and bringing to life the superhuman efforts involved in running a successful expedition in remote corners of the globe. I really appreciated the liberal usage of color photos and line sketches, something that I have sorely missed in other non-fictions, that makes following the author so much more easier. For those like me who are fascinated by human evolutionary history, this is a must read!

[singingdalong · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the hot sun above 40 degrees Celsius, in the stillness of civilization’s life, people stare at the dry ground, dusty grass, as if looking for money that has fallen on the floor. Sometimes they squat like they are defecations and watch closely as if they are counting the grains of soil. It seems like they are digging gold, but in a way they may be digging for the assets of mankind that are more valuable than gold and silver.They are archaeologists who dig up the past and uncover the evolutionary path of mankind.

https://singingdalong.blogspot.com/20...

[Tedders · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is so much in this book that is interesting and important. What was Lucy? How did she get preserved? How was she found? What were the difficulties in a) obtaining her and b) piecing together the frustrating bits of evidence to work out any form of "What do we have and what does this mean?"

AND THEN there is the bloody fluff. Subtitle says "How our oldest human ancestor was discovered and who she was" but guys, guys, guys the paleoanthropologists ate goats in camp, Mary Leakey was the other woman, and they called some undergrad "Surfer" cause he was a hunky blond dude?

I don't care how the expert takes his or her coffee. If it's about you write an autobiography. Damn.

[Nila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read this book in maybe 15 years. It's a book that I enjoy rereading which is unusual for me. I was hunting for an audio version and saw I'd never done a review.

Johanson and his crew were exploring a site in Ethiopia that had yielded some fossils of interest in the recent past. They discovered the nearly-complete fossil of Lucy, a hominid more than 3.5 million years old. She was an upright walker and showed many evidences of being a pre-modern human ancestor.

This is a fascinating book. It is a true pleasure to read.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

A forty year old publication, but new to me, and so well written even a person completely ignorant of paleo anthropology (like me) can follow and be fascinated. I admit some of the laborious tooth and jaw details took me a bit of coffee to get through, but they were not purposeless and did increase my understanding. Evolution is no longer the shocking controversy it once was, thankfully, but there are still gaps in our understanding and it is wonderful that there are so many passionate scientists working to fill those gaps with evidence from the fossil record.

[Rik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. As much as a chronology of the discoveries in the field and a history of the development of the state of the field as it as about the subject itself. The detailing of the digs at various sites and the process gives the book a narrative and gives context to the fossils discussed and their impact on the field is understood. A great book looking at the earlier stages of human evolution that explains how we discovered what is common knowledge now.

[Sara Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a phenomenal read for anyone who wants to understand the evolution of humanity from a common ape-hominid ancestor. It includes excellent diagrams and depictions of all fossils, and contains the fascinating tale of Lucy’s discovery and the adventures of paleoanthropologists of the late 20th century. I had an absolute blast reading this book!

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook. I would have liked it better if I could have skimmed over some parts. My husband listened to parts with me and wasn't sure if it was the same book because "sometimes it's interesting, other time it feels lije an autopsy report."

[Addie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paleoanthropology is so cool. This version is over 40 years old, so there have been a ton of updates in the field since it was written, but it gives a great overview of where the industry was at the time of Lucy's discovery and how they decided where to put her in the evolutionary chain.

[Georgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to describe the beauty of something that touches you deeply.....it was like the sky was filled with diamonds and I could see inside my bones.

[Eric C Abrahamsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and fascinating. I read it in the 80s and got me interested in hominid evolution. Not exactly a dinner table topic but I find it absolutely fascinating.

[Kay Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit out of date now, but a good introduction to paleoanthropology and early hominids.