A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens

by Silvana Condemi

Why aren’t we more like other apes? How did we win the evolutionary race? Find out how “wise” Homo sapiens really are.

Prehistory has never been more New discoveries are overturning long-held theories left and right. Stone tools in Australia date back 65,000 years—a time when, we once thought, the first Sapiens had barely left Africa. DNA sequencing has unearthed a new hominid group—the Denisovans—and confirmed that crossbreeding with them (and Neanderthals) made Homo sapiens who we are today.A Pocket History of Human Evolution brings us up-to-date on the exploits of all our ancient relatives. Paleoanthropologist Silvana Condemi and science journalist François Savatier consider what accelerated our Was it tools, our “large” brains, language, empathy, or something else entirely? And why are we the sole survivors among many early bipedal humans? Their conclusions reveal the various ways ancient humans live on today—from gossip as modern “grooming” to our gendered division of labor—and what the future might hold for our strange and unique species.

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

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2018

Reviews

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley

This is a short, but incredibly informative book about the evolution and history of man. It was very good, easily readable and incredibly interesting. I absolutely loved it.

The book starts with how primates slowly turned into humans and what were the stepping stones - which behaviors pushed us to turn into what we are now, and finishes with the migration and dispersion of Sapiens throughout the world, as well as the direction we are moving now (biological vs social and cultural evolution). It talks in short about all the human subspecies before us and what was different about them. The book contains a lot of very interesting facts - such as why humans are born so relatively helpless - our brains and skulls are much too huge to be able to pass through the birth canal as complete as those of other animals, so human babies have to finish maturing after they're born instead of before. There are many such seemingly little details that made us who we are in the span of millions of years. This book really gives you the feeling of respect for the human body - because it explains how many things had to change and adapt to enable us to survive. We are often taught that the human is nothing compared to an animal - we're frail, puny, weak. But it's not quite like that - we're also economical energetically, cunning and able to form a social structure that nurtures us like no other species in the world.

I was particularly happy to read about how important the domestication of the wolf (dog) has been to us as a species. The dog had so many jobs to do in human society, and not just early society - jobs that dogs still do in our society even now (rescuers, guides, hunting partners, finders, peace keepers and more). The love for dogs is programmed deep into the minds of a lot of us.

I also really loved the charts in this book - there are many. Some have timelines, branches of species and there are even brain size charts for some of the subspecies. I was most fascinated with the charts that detailed how Sapiens (essentially, us) mixed with Neanderthals and other human species to make us who we are right now.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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[Bruce Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Pocket History of Human Evolution, How We Became Sapiens, by Silvana Condemi and François Savatier (audio book 3.3 hours). This book is full of so-called “science” so I am going to summarize it in a way that the common person (you) can understand. Long, long, long, long ago human-like animals were developing into several distinct species. None were attractive in the modern sense. A couple of them became predominate: Neanderthals and what became modern man. Despite their differences, they had carnal relations, much like liberals and conservatives sometimes do in a dark bar under the influence of beer. (You can decide whether liberals or conservatives are the equivalent of Neanderthals.) For a variety of reasons, modern humans crowded out the Neanderthals, in large part because they progressed from Hunter-gatherers to people who liked broccoli, i.e. agriculturists. Brains got bigger, languages developed, hordes became tribes, and other changes occurred (some of which can be attributed to evolution, otherwise known as magic). Bipedal humans from Africa travelled to lots of vacation destinations, and like people visiting Colorado, many chose to stay. This was long, long, long, long ago when the earth had not yet been damaged by climate deniers, and when land bridges existed between some continents. Due to a shortage of sunscreen some people became darker. Others didn’t due to being subjected to less direct sunlight. People began hanging out together, governments emerged (but from what sinkholes they came no one knows), tools became refined, fire was invented, the Beatles invaded America, and humans began destroying the planet due to nearly unlimited procreation compounded by the failure of many people to die as God intended. So, in short, humans won the battle of species, invented knives, wheels, and Viagra, and they are now doomed because of conservatives’ aversion to birth control. You may want read the book yourself.

[Mirko Martini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Davvero un bel libro che ti racconta agilmente la storia della nostra specie dalla conquista del bipedismo obbligato alle forze che hanno spinto alla nascita degli Stati e alla crescita demografica che possiamo osservare oggigiorno. La conclusione è un bellissimo riassunto e manifesto della nostra specie, della sua spaventosità e, sotto alcuni aspetti, grandiosità.
Una rivoluzione è davvero necessaria. la domanda è davvero se riusciremo a completarla prima che sia troppo tardi

[Sandra Deaconu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recunosc: uneori mă amuză teribil unele studii. Mi-i imaginez pe acei cercetători: ,,Fir-ar, vine șefu'! Bă, dă o foaie încoa', să ne apucăm să calculăm cât timp se scarpină maimuțele, ca să nu creadă că stăm degeaba!".


,,Pentru a funcționa, un grup de primate trebuie într-adevăr să depună eforturi constante în îngrijiri corporale reciproce (despăducherea, de pildă), care stabilesc și mențin legăturile între indivizi. După ce au dedus o lege empirică din datele privind toate primatele actuale, au elaborat un model care descrie fenomenul în cadrul speciei umane. Au ajuns astfel la concluzia că îngrijirea socială depășește 20% din timp la autralopiteci, apoi crește până la 45% la Homo neanderthalensis și Homo sapiens. Or, o știm bine, jumătate din timp curățându-ne unii pe alții de păduchi, mai ales că grupul social cu care comunicăm include în mod obișnuit sute de persoane (fiind vorba de relațiile pe care le întreținem), ba chiar mult mai multe (dacă le includem și pe cele pe care nu le reținem)! Prin ce am înlocuit această îngrijire socială? Prin limbaj..."

[Jovi Ene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Știm despre Homo sapines, despre apariția focului și a limbajului, despre desenele rupestre, despre omul de Neanderthal și despre Lucy. Mulți dintre noi cunoaștem cadrul geneneral, fără să aprofundăm teorii sau să știm amănunte.
Ceea ce este cu adevărat interesant în volumul celor doi autori francezi este că utilizează cele mai recente descoperiri asupra trecutului umanității, punându-le în context, contrazicând unele dintre cele mai cunoscute teorii istorice (cum ar fi cea despre revoluția cognitivă, promovată și de Harari) sau oferind argumente noi în privința altora. Ideea este excelentă, iar volumul de față este un punct de plecare pentru cei interesați de evoluția omului.

[echpiar · Rating 3 out of 5]

من نسخه ترجمه فارسی کتاب رو خوندم
به اسم"دیباچه ای بر فرگشت انسان (چگونه خردمند شدیم؟)"
ترجمه مهسا شهرابی فراهانی
از انتشارات سبزان
همونطور که عنوان کتاب میگه، کتاب یه دیباچه و شرح مقدمه خوبی برای آشنایی نظریه فرگشت به استناد مدارک و مستندات پژوهشی و دیرینه شناسی و دانشگاهی هست.
کم حجم، روان و ساده بعضی سلسله علل فرگشت و پایداری فرگشت رو بیان میکنه که خصوصا برای مخاطب عامه کاملا مناسب و قابل فهمه.

[barbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024: lalalla I don't even remember reading this BUT sounds interesting. bet it's in one of those spheres that they show in inside out, like in some random isle in me lil brain, hehe. cool.

“Thus, in our opinion, it isn’t biological developments that created the singular evolutionary history of Sapiens but its social and cultural complexity, which led to biological changes (increased size of the cerebellum and increased connectivity between neurons). This is confirmed by research in the field of neuroscience, which shows that while genetic heritage plays a fundamental role in the development of young Sapiens, the phenomena modulating the expression of these genes—epigenetics—are crucial. As a matter of fact, the development of a young human and its epigenetics are modulated by its living conditions—essentially, the nourishment it receives and the environment (society) that surrounds it. This means that, for Sapiens, society quickly became much more extensive. Today, each one of us may have tens of friends and relatives (much more than a horde contained) and hundreds of virtual friends on social networks.”

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well illustrated little scientific book telling you everything you want to know about human evolution and then some. There's lots of modern research included and charts and illustrations to help with the subject matter. I was hoping this would be helpful for my older kids, but it's definitely better suited for an adult. This was perhaps a lot more information than I really wanted even though I find the subject interesting. Parts of it were really, really interesting. I had a hard time sticking with it, but if you're interested in finally understanding evolution really well as a lay person then this is your book.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Viktor Stoyanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Нямам забележки към книжката, освен, че твърде "pocket" ми дойде :)
Проследява еволюцията ни с най-общите и най-общоприетите факти някъде до създаването на първите племенни социални строеве. В такъв кратък преглед за толкова дълъг период на еволюция е невъзможно да се спре човек на разсъждение по най-интересните теми от миграцията, взаимодействието с другите видове homo, някакви прозрения и нови теории за еволюцията на съзнанието и тнт.

Както се казва - just the basics и ако търсите да започнете от тях и това да е в кратка форма - то тогава книжката е подходяща. Предполагам, че използва вълната от интерес по темата и покрай други нашумели книги, за да даде "джобния" вариант.

[Lis Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, as it says on the cover, a pocket history of human evolution. It's clear, concise, informative, covers enough detail to be useful--including some interesting material I hadn't caught up with previously.

The authors are a paleoanthropologist (Condemi), and a science journalist (Savatier), and this is an excellent, accessible overview of what we know about our ancestors. How did our lineage emerge from the many closely related bipedal species to become the only surviving member of genus homo? The only fully bipedal ape? A species able to adapt to every continent (including, marginally, Antarctica), and make major alterations to the planet?

You may gain a new appreciation of the human foot. I was fascinated by the information that human populations were interacting and interbreeding across most of Africa, not just East Africa, fairly early in Sapiens development, expanding out of Africa as well as descendants of earlier out-migrants migrating back to Africa, and possibly at some point cross-breeding with Homo erectus.

Humans apparently will mate with anything that looks about right.

There's also a strong emphasis on the importance of cultural evolution, with language and the sharing of new inventions and ideas playing a large role in our rise to unlikely dominance.

It's informative, fascinating, and enjoyable. Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

[Mauro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dopo il successo di Mio caro Neandertal, libro che ha ben meritato il Grand Prix du Livre d’Archéologie 2017, Condeni e Savatier continuano la loro ricerca sull’evoluzione umana, esponendo con questo ultimo lavoro, Noi siamo Sapiens, un resoconto che vuole essere sì aggiornato, ma al tempo stesso il più condensato possible, pur non trascurando nessun dettaglio. E devo dire che riescono pienamente nell’intento. Come ha commentato Ian Tattersall, paleoantropologo di fama internazionale, curatore emerito della diivisione di Antropologia all’American Museum of Natural History di New York: «È davvero difficile tenere il passo con la marea di novità che vengono continuamente pubblicate sulle nostre origini. È dunque un piccolo miracolo che Silvana Condemi e François Savatier siano riusciti a riassumere in maniera tanto elegante e autorevole le scoperte più recenti in un libro così breve e leggibile».

Noi siamo Sapiens è stato nuovamente selezionato per la ultima edizione (2019) del Grand Prix du Livre d’Archéologie.

[Amor Asad · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this may very well be a concise and concrete introduction to Human Evolution, that will only apply to people who are new to the literature on evolutionary biology and human history. If you've already read a few books on the subject, there is almost nothing new for you. Still, it's a good read as it is a newer publication with updated information.

The authors also put forward a different philosophy anent why neanderthals went extinct, they disagree with the prevailing theory that sapiens violently and directly confronted them to extinction, rather they argue in favor of habitat destruction, and slow decimation of the species. While they have their logic behind them, I personally lean towards the prevailing theory of murderous intent and special hegemony.

The authors actually passively admit that when they present the instances of tribal war, and mass killing among hunter-gatherer sapiens around 10-12 thousand years ago. While this gives us solid evidence of our (sapiens) violence towards each other, let alone other species, we don't really need to confirm that from archaeological evidence—recorded human history is enough to discern that.

The most curious bit for me is probably this — I was apparently wrong about Neanderthal's first taming fire. It appears, our ancestors are using fire for 700,000 years and the earliest instance of fire incident dates to 1.4 million years (although it isn't confirmed whether it was intended or not). This urged me to reevaluate early homo species and their advanced cognitive abilities.

At any rate, I will highly recommend the book to anyone who is new to human history and wants to get a brief idea of it.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens by Silvana Condemi and Francois Savatier is a short but very interesting and informative book about human evolution from our beginnings stepping down from the trees to the development of the state and the role war played in it. It concludes with a discussion of the effect of overpopulation on the planet and how the internet - 'a sort of global nervous system' - is changing humanity.

For anyone interested in our evolution, how we became us and how we are still evolving, this is a fascinating book. It is well-written and well-researched, cogent, and most important, written in language that makes it accessible to people who have little or no knowledge of human evolution. Despite their discussion of the Anthropocene, the "human era", and the growing devastation if population continues to increase at an alarming rate, they end the book on a surprisingly optimistic note:

Even though it might not seem very obvious, Sapiens remains sapiens, which is say, "wise". And we'd wager that, over time, we will become even wiser.

A definite high recommendation for anyone with an interest in our story from our earliest beginnings right up to the present.

Thanks to Netgalley and The Experiment for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

[Fredrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. I listened to the audio version, and therefor haven't seen any of the pictures people mentioned.
The book lays out theories that I find interesting, but find it hard for someone to actually downright prove. The other reviews here told me that is somewhat a correct assumption.

The book is none the less thought provoking and intersting, with a lot of facts and theories one never hear about in school.
In what order did we evolve our different, unique, functions? What makes us different from other animals, except our thumbs?
Things you might not know, that this books goes into is the fact that humans sweat a lot compared to other animals, which is an advantage for cooling and going long distances. We are the only animal that walks on two legs. We use half the energy for moving around as our ape friends.
We might have evolved the ability to walk on two legs, before evolving intelligence.
Tools might be the reason why intelligence became "sexy" (and those toolmaking minds spread their DNA).

The use of a lot of scientific names for different humans throughout is a bit off-setting, since I never was somewhere, where I could actually google the names. That and some other nit-picks, but they don't bring down the experience much.

Short and effective. I would recommend it for anyone that is interested in the topic of either human evolution, biology or history.

[Zulfiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Tis was a short but intellectually sweet read with so much to digest and consume intellectually. We are all familiar with the cornerstones of human evolution, but high school textbooks mostly provide a sketchy representation in a couple of simple steps. This book, albeit short, offers a detailed view of human evolution step by step - walking, running, tribal coordination, language development, and even communal dwelling as a step to building villages and later cities.

Some insights were quite fascinating, and some were slightly tedious, but overall, it was an enjoyable little book.

[I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very concise and informative

[Margarida de Sousa (IcthusBookCorner)]

3.75

[Carlota Ribeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

De forma não muito alongada nem demasiado básica, elabora uma linha temporal da nossa evolução, a evolução do Sapiens. Acompanhado de gráficos e esquemas ilustrativos, é um livro de fácil leitura e bastante esclarecedor para os interessados no tema.

[Cronache di una Lettrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Questo è il secondo libro di "storia" che leggo, alla ricerca di un libro capace di stregarmi come "Da Animali a Dei" ha fatto.
E anche questa volta non l'ho trovato.
Per carità, è interessante. Ma non mi ha lasciato quella sensazione di stupore, di voglia di saperne di più, che Harari è riuscito a inculcarmi (tant'è che sono alla ricerca di altro materiale).
La ricerca prosegue.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessante. In modo chiaro,sintetico e documentato ripercorrere la storia dell'evoluzione umana e dell' affermarsi dei
Sapiens

[Thomas Houghton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given my interest in the recent new discoveries regarding our anthropological prehistory, such as the smashed Mastodon bones in North America and the Denisovan remains in Siberia, I want to start reading more popular science surrounding this topic. A book titled ‘a pocket history’ sounds like the perfect way to start. This guide is technical but not in an oppressive way and gives a great background into the lives of Homo Sapiens, Neanderthals and earlier hominids such as Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Australopithecus, alongside how they interacted with other evolving simians and how they eventually adapted to walking with a bipedal stance. Overall, if you want a short guide to the foundations of our human prehistory, this is the perfect text for you.

[Aran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delivers what it promises, a good and succint introduction to the topic.

[Bogdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet and to the point. It’s not a friendly intro nor a deep dive into paleontology or anthropology, but rather an update to “well established” facts, using the latest discoveries.

It does end on the rather worrying conclusion that Homo sapiens have evolved to become the locusts we are today, devouring natural resources just to reproduce.

[Ioanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where has the human kind come from? How does evolution work? And what does culture have to do with that?

These are some of the questions A Pocket History of Human Evolution answers. Accompanied by graphs, maps and informative sketches, this book lays the basics in plain English for anyone who wants to know more about our species, its birth and its evolution.

Fully researched and detailed exactly us much as it should without becoming confusing or tiring, A Pocket History of Human Evolution gives us information on many aspects of our species evolution, while at the same time laying out a timeline for it.

This is a recommended read for anyone interested in the topic of human evolution.

[Bunga R Soetoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This pocketbook is a good place to start learning about how we became sapiens at the origin. If you have read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari then you can find some different findings here, although you need to lower your expectations as it is merely a brief note.

So what makes us Sapiens, the not-so-wise wisest animal currently living on earth? It started with a change in morphology. Bipedalism counts as one of the most important. Then comes the change in the culture of living. Then the tribe forming shaped the way Homo Sapiens produce and reproduce til now.

It seems like thousands of years ago, but Sapiens is still evolving. Still thriving to find balance in this overpopulated earth.

Things to note here :
1. Neanderthals are our brothers and sisters
2. Sapiens' craving to collect more and more, makes them more powerful than Neanderthals who only collected what they needed. Then what happened next is the survival of the greediest
3. Human domestication is closely related to a higher rate of infectious disease.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crisp overview of human evolution

I enjoyed this book. There are a lot of good books out there that go into a lot of detail about human evolution, but what’s nice about this book is that it is reads crisply and it’s written in a conversational tone. As a pocket guide, it can’t go into all the details, but it gives a great overview and has many clarifying illustrations. Kudos to Thomas Haessig for the illustrations. The translation of the book was seamless, so kudos to Emma Ramadan. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in human evolution.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Condemi and Savatier deliver a beautiful synopsis of Human evolution. I look forward to reading a more comprehensive coverage of the material from the French paleoanthropologist and science writer.

What I find most enjoyable is how Professor Condemi presents the information as an amalgamation from intellects all over the planet. How apropos that this academic enlightens is about our ancestors from the perspective of a world citizen.

I long to read her book on Neanderthals, but alas, I cannot read in French. Hopefully, she will be able to offer an English language translation for it as she has for this book.

[Álvaro Athayde · Rating 5 out of 5]

A LER

Em termos científicos não é novidoso.

Em termos pedagógicos é excepcional.

Contem uma mensagem que, em minha opinião é, hoje mais que nunca, fundamental gritar:

Não é a raça, estúpidos! É a cultura!!!

A diferença está na cultura, não na cor da pele ou no formato do crânio.

P.S. Li uma edição portuguesa, publicada pela Temas & Debates.

[Paleoanthro · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth, highly researched, up-to-date, and compact update of human origins and evolution. Extremely well written, this account will capture your attention and expand your knowledge in an amazingly short number of pages. Despite it small size, this book is not lacking in stature nor insight. Highly recommended reading.

[Zdravko · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thoroughly enjoyed this short book. in addition to learning new important findings i wasn't familiar with, i picked up many other gems, such as this one about the hand:

[The Hand, a Veritable Tool Machine

The evolution of lithic knapping technology (the fabrication of stone tools) is other hominids. Over time, evolution shrank the human hand—this is especially obvious in the thumb, which is missing a middle bone, but also in the other fingers, which are significantly shorter than a chimpanzee’s. Our hand is made up of twenty-nine bones, just as many joints, thirty-five muscles, a vast network of nerves and arteries, and more than a hundred tendons. Furthermore, the bones of our fingers are not curved like those of apes, but straight. Our thumb, the strongest of the fingers, is opposable, and it alone uses nine muscles and the three main nerves of the hand. It’s because of these numerous muscular motors and tendon transmissions controlled through nerves, very similar to the strings on a marionette, that our fingers move individually and with dexterity. Our hand is uniquely different from those of other hominids in its versatility: it can assume a variety of hooklike shapes; it can be a fulcrum and a versatile gripping instrument, with both strength and precision; it also serves as a hammer or a drinking cup, a measuring tool, and much more. Our incredible hand transformed us into a sort of intelligent tool machine, which, with the information gathered by its numerous sensory receptors, can respond to stimuli almost instantaneously. These microscopic receptors make the hand into an organ of information and communication. The presence of so many nerve fibers—more than seventeen thousand—especially on the palm and tips of the fingers, allows us to have a sense of touch modulated by sensitivity; it’s with our hands that we make contact with the external material world. Without even being conscious of it, this provides us every day with millions of pieces of subtle information about the shape, nature, and composition of everything around us, along with the emotional states of our loved ones. The hand also reflects the incredible extent of our cognitive ability. It’s estimated that the movement of the hand requires the use of around 25 percent of the areas of the brain devoted to movement in general, in particular the motor cortex (located in the posterior part of the parietal lobe), which is dedicated to voluntary movement, and a portion of the cerebellum, which triggers coordinated movements. So we can determine that the motor and sensory capacities of the hand contributed to the increase in our cognitive ability and the size of our brain.]