Seven Skeletons: The Evolution of the World’s Most Famous Human Fossils

Pyne (Bookshelf), a historian and philosopher of science, superbly profiles seven fossils that she feels “tell us how scientific discoveries become written into popular culture and scientific ethos”: the “old man,” Piltdown Man, the Taung Child, Peking Man, Lucy, Flo, and Sediba. She makes clear their importance in helping people to understand both human evolution and the scientific process, while addressing larger cultural questions about the nature of celebrity and the role played by story and symbol. Pyne acknowledges that there are many fossils that play a central role in telling the story of human evolution, but she argues that these seven have acquired a cultural cachet that both add to and transcend their scientific value. Indeed, the stories associated with each fossil, the nicknames each has acquired, and the marketing arising from them have in many ways transformed paleoarchaeology as well as the popular understanding people have for evolutionary history. As Pyne notes, such stories “humanize the australophithecines, and that’s a powerful thing. It makes the fossil record accessible to us as people, not just as scientists.” Pyne’s tales complement and flesh out the well-known narratives already associated with these fossils; her work impressively blends the humanities and science to greatly enrich both. [em]Agent: Geri Thoma, Writers House. (Aug.) [/em]