50 Great Myths of Human Evolution: Understanding Misconceptions About Our Origins

Very fun read. well organized, and the book builds its scope as it goes. It builds a case as the myths progress, so each myth isn't necessarily to be taken independently.

A trade book designed to appeal to the masses, but 50 myths is too redundant and technical. Many of them only matter if you’re a student or scientist of the field.

This book is well written, clear, and I learned quite a bit. And it's definitely stimulating - some chapters prompted me to research a little deeper into the question, and I did read some of the shorter passages to my young children, which proved stimulating. Please note the title - this is about human evolution, not evolution in general.But the book does have several shortcomings, which do not prevent me from giving it a strong recommendation, but need to be mentioned nonetheless. Like most academic discussions of broad subjects such as this, there is not enough interdisciplinary exchange. For example, in his discussion of the myth "Only humans use tools and have culture", he discusses that chimpanzees also use tools, and somewhat dismisses the notion of "culture" as simply a semantic distinction. He would have benefited greatly from talking to just about any biologist or zoologist, many many animals use tools and develop distinct cultures, their own language, etc. Or he could have just looked up examples on Youtube. My own cats in fact have used tools (using a stick to pry open a door or food container, for example).This author comes from an anthropology background. However there are well over 100 disciplines that are contributing to the evolutionary sciences on a daily basis (ie, evolutionary virology, quantitative genetics, evolutionary computations and computer modeling, people like Wolfram who have done computer simulations, etc etc), and in this era of the internet and big data, hopefully we will see the different disciplines coming together in new ways to synthesize information more effectively.See for example the twin brothers Eske and Rane Willerslev, one became a geneticist and the other an anthropologist. They both excel in contributions to the evolutionary sciences because they constantly bounce ideas off each other, and yet at times they argue bitterly. So onto my specific concerns:First, it's very light on pictures, graphs, charts or any visual evidence.Next, the book does not address the most popular creationist arguments, nor does it provide soundbites or sharp answers to those concerns. I think the organization of the book would have been more successful in a slightly different format: State the myth (ie, Carbon dating is unreliable), State the fact (Carbon dating is incredibly reliable but just one of many dating methods used), and then followed by a discussion. (Please note, this is a popular creationist talking point, but the author doesn't mention it).And sadly, the book does not really tackle the subject of "great myths". A great myth would be a belief that is widely held for a long period of time, like the Scopes monkey trial (many of those myths survive even today).I don't even believe many of these chapters are considered myth at all. There is mythology on both sides of this debate, and I was hoping the author would at least include a discussion of mythology of the pro-science side vs the anti-science side. But alas, in the first few paragraphs of the introduction, the author dismisses completely the notion of mythos in his discussion, and says instead he prefers the term misconceptions. That is in fact what he does, and I believe the title should have reflected that (ie, 50 Misconceptions of Human Evolution).For example, the creationists believe a "Great Flood" has contaminated fossil evidence and confused our scientists - I would love to see an academic discussion of this, but the author doesn't mention it.On the pro-science side, most people believe evolution is slow, linear, and hierarchical (ie, a moral judgment is implied, "highly evolved" is better than, or an improvement over those things we consider "primitive"). All of these form a mythology, one that is consistent with many religious beliefs, with colonialism, paternalism, sometimes used to justify patriarchy ... and this is the frame that is used every time a journalist writes about evolutionary issues in the news. I was pleased to see the author include a brief (surface) rebuttal to some of these beliefs in Chapter 6 ("Some species are more evolved than others"), but these myths were largely left untouched as well.This leads to my next criticism, that half of these chapters just come off as straw man arguments. And my final complaint is that some of this information is outdated. It has been demonstrated in the last 15-20 years, for example, that evolutionary changes often doesn't happen slowly over time, that it can happen in very short bursts, over just a few generations. For example, we are learning that viruses have played a vital role in genetic changes, and can account for thing such as a dramatic and sudden leaps in brain size.Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a perfect book, and I definitely still give it a solid recommendation. But I wanted to let readers know exactly what they're getting here: If you are expecting a dummies guide type book to help you respond to your creationist relatives, I don't believe this is the book for you. But instead, this is an ideal book for just about any high school or college student taking introductory science courses, or for the educated lay person who wants to know a little more about human evolution.

I read a lot of science and history, and this is the best science book I have read in the past year, up to a point. The early material on ancient hominens (or hominids) and their inter-relations and inter-breeding is first-class. At the end of the book, however, he descends into a pure political correctness agenda, regarding denial of the reality of human races (i.e., sub-species, just as with dogs and other mammals), which detracts from the overall veracity of the known research and scientific method. He clearly has "drunk the Kool-Aid" of the leftist agenda to deny the DNA biological reality of race. Race is not just a figment of imagination and a whole host of biological DNA differences have proved this for the past 50 years or more. Perhaps he has some monetary reasons for "towing the line" in today's climate of American academia.For human evolution and the exact empirical evidence accumulated thus far, you would be hard pressed to find a better book that is this size and this easily readable. It is probably slightly above an average layman reading level for science and history, but the explanations are excellent, clear, thorough, and easy to follow. The logical order of the evidence presented for each case of myth-busting is exceptional and impressive, almost presented like an ideal legal brief. That kind of attention to the scientific method is admirable and absorbs the reader. This book could easily be used in a science classroom and it would be a goldmine for students, even those pursuing related fields such as biology, medicine, dental science, ecology, genetics, zoology, forensic science, or archaeology. This book has the best narrative of the entire long line of all the hominids, including recent finds, and how to place them in the overall timeline of human evolution, that I have ever seen in any book or video documentary. Highly recommended.

I was disappointed lessin this book. Though it has lots of knowledge about a topic that fascinated it seems disjointed and therefore unclear. It's set up in a question and answer format but a lot of the questions are overly simplistic however if you're not one percent knowledgeable in the topic some of the answers are confusing. I know it's probably a lot to ask from the piblisher but it would help greatly if there were line drawings. I found myself needing to google at times for clarity.There were also question that were just shy of being insulting because they were so simplistic and then I felt like Relethford was talking down to us. Overall the book felt disjointed and it alternated between simplistic and overly complicated question with no accompanying illustrations. I could see this book being helpful as something for students to have on hand to check facts dipping in and out as necessary.

I liked the book very much. For each of the myths, there is clear explanation of why it is wrong, and how it is in reality. Some of the myths were actually a part of mainstream science until they were proven wrong, Some are obviously wrong, some are not so obvious. Each of the chapters states the myth, then there is short paragraph on why it is wrong, and then elaborate description of the reasons why the myth arose, and why it is wrong, including many references to scientific papers. It is all written very well, not too hard to understand for a not a specialist, but it not too watered down to be of no use. There is a lot of information, including a lot of new to me stuff about human evolution. I enjoyed the book very much.

We live in a time when it seems more and more people deny evolution in favour of “creative design” or literal adherence to creation myths. Professor John Relethford has written a book not so much to try to win over such people – although the first “myth”, “Evolution is a theory, not a fact” indicates that he’s not seeking to duck that challenge. Rather his aims is to bring those of us who do accept evolution (as the only scientific explanation of how life on earth has progressed) up to date with current thinking, and to correct misconceptions that (I suspect) many secondary school teachers may have imparted over the years.It is a simply but effectively structured book, making it easy to dip into as well as to read straight through. The 50 Myths are subdivided into 4 groups: Ideas about Evolution; Human Origins; Evolution of the Genus Homo; and Recent and Future Human Evolution. Each myth is a short chapter of typically 4-6 pages, with a thin sprinkling of drawings, diagrams, table and charts – although not, oddly, I thought, any maps. Each of these short chapters starts with a heading that states the myth, e.g. “There are no transitional fossils in human evolution” and an italicised paragraph summarising the correct view, e.g. “A frequent critique of evolution is that we have no evidence of transitional forms that bridge the gap between species. This is untrue, particularly in reference to human evolution…” This organisation makes it easy to dip in and out of the book, to identify areas in which your thinking might be dated, and others (and I say this as someone who would have though himself moderately well informed for a layman, mainly courtesy of Messrs Dawkins and Jones) where I didn’t even know myths and corresponding facts existed, e.g. “All evolutionary changes are adaptive”.This is a book I keep in my briefcase to dip into on the train – ten minutes or so per chapter is a great way to work back and forwards through the book. Most of the chapters are readily comprehensible to the layman, some though do become quite technical and you may find yourself having to skim these sections – or consult Wikipedia to get a better understanding of the vocabulary and concepts.All in all, an excellent addition to my library!

50 Great Myths of Human Evolution is an excellent book for those with little or limited knowledge on evolution. It covers some of the biggest misconceptions about evolution, explaining the truth in layman terms, and how these misconceptions often came to be.The author, John Relethford, is a college professor who specialises in human evolution. He states from the outset that he struggled to find the top 50 misconceptions as there are so many, and that the brief details in each area are intended to peak your interest enough to delve into those areas in greater detail if your desire warrants. His writing is clear, concise, and understandable. He does not belittle you with the misconceptions at hand, rather he explains the truth behind the myths in a knowledgeable way.For me, this book is fascinating. I was raised to believe that Evolution itself was a myth, a fantasy if you will, devised by deranged people to explain something that has no scientific explanation. The details of evolution are so vast and filled with so many misconceptions, especially when you are trying to work them out alone from inside in a bubble world, that a simple guide telling you what is wrong is essential to learning the scientific truth. This book may not be great for those who are more knowledgeable on the topic but for those who aren’t, this book is excellent.

From its title you might assume this book is intended to decorate the smarter coffee tables - or at least the ones owned by those who wish to appear smart - but it's a bit more substantial than that. It's a fascinating subject and not without controversy, which is in part what the book sets out to address. In many ways this book is a great place to start and, although it doesn't pretend to be an exhaustive analysis of the subject, it's an engaging read and a book you can dip into, although the essays are presented in a logical sequence that rewards the more committed reader too.It is also a bit frustrating in some ways, particularly in the opening chapters which seem more like an extended discussion of semantics than the theory of evolution, but once you get past them it improves. Some of the so-called myths seem far-fetched and contrived to me, they're certainly ideas I've never heard expressed but maybe I move in the wrong circles - or the right ones? It's often a bit over-written and over-long, an editor with a sharper pencil might have helped, but the author clearly knows and loves his subject and none of the essays are particularly lengthy. The author also credits sources and lists references so you can investigate the more compelling areas with some further reading. There are some truly fascinating explanations and theories here and the book is accessible to anyone with an interest, even armchair amateur anthropologists.

While many of us may not have realised that some of the myths in this book even existed, nevertheless it is a fascinating 'dip-in' book, packed full of facts, and written in a readable, accessible style. It's not a textbook, but has solid academic referencing throughout, and a huge bibliography. The author covers interesting topics such as variations in skin colour, the widely-reported myth that blonds are dying out, and the myth that only humans used tools.The information is organised logically, from general evolution myths (natural selection always works, for example) through human origins (sample myth, all human species have probably been discovered) through evolution of the genus Homo. Finally there is a totally fascinating section on recent and future human evelution.I particularly liked the robust debunking of Myth 40, that humans were influenced by terrestrials. Many of the myths could be books on their own,, and this is one. This book is a step beyond popular science, but is still just as readable as many books of this genre.Summary - a fascinating, wide-ranging book, covering paleoanthropology, human biologiical variation and genomics in one volume, with engaging facts on every page. Readable and very engaging.

This is an interesting popular science book that takes the reader through the story and main topics of human evolution in 50 separate essays. Each are about 5 pages of text (probably about 2, 000 - 2,500 words) which concentrate on a particular topic which is described as a 'myth'. The range takes the reader from the main points of evolution, through the history and evidence for our understanding of the early evolution of Homo sapiens from Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus etc. , the migration of Homo sapiens, genetic diversity and some more modern themes of a sociological nature. This paints a broad story. Some of the so-called 'myths' aren't really what I would consider myths, because they are quite technical, and some, such as the existence of Bigfoot or cavemen and dinosaurs co-existing are rather fringe. However, all round a good, easy to follow and comprehensive overview of human evolution as we understand it today.