cover image Eco Homo: How the Human Being Emerged Frmothe Cataclysmic History of the Earth

Eco Homo: How the Human Being Emerged Frmothe Cataclysmic History of the Earth

Noel T. Boaz. Basic Books, $25 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-465-01803-1

Attempting to go well beyond a presentation of the linear history of human evolution, Boaz, president and founder of the International Institute for Human Evolutionary Research, instead explains why the genus Homo arose and diversified, ultimately yielding humans. ""This book concerns why our forebears first evolved--why they emerged first on the African continent, why they left the forests, why they adapted to walking on two legs, why they began eating tough foods... and many other `why' questions of human evolution."" Boaz draws heavily from paleoecology and evolutionary biology, arguing forcefully that responses to global climatic changes provide answers to all of these questions. While much of what is included is persuasive, documentation is virtually absent and some major controversies--such as the ""out of Africa"" versus ""multiregionalism"" debate--are glossed over to a surprising extent. Building on his conclusion that response to environmental change played a major role in virtually every aspect of human evolution, Boaz winds up by detailing current environmental problems. Not surprisingly, such a broad concluding survey in such a short amount of space is superficial, unlike the rest of the book. (July)