The First Human

Ann Gibbons. 2006. The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors. Doubleday: New York. ISBN 0-385-51226-0. 248 pages, plus brief biographical sketches, maps and charts, black and white photographs, glossary, endnotes, bibliography, index.

When it comes to archaeological news stories, there is no hotter topic than the origins of humans. Despite a vocal minority in the United States (and elsewhere) vociferously disputing the reality of human evolution, paleoanthropology’s search for the oldest ‘missing link’ trumps Egyptology, trumps Kennewick Man, even trumps that hottest of all archaeology stories: cannibalism. One possible reason for this is the existence of several excellent books on the topic, written for the general public. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind (Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey), Origins Reconsidered (Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin), Adventures in the Bone Trade (Jon Kalb), and The Fossil Trail (Ian Tattersall): all of these and others present the discovery and interpretation of ancient fossils of our earliest hominid ancestors from each researcher’s view point.

So, why should you read Ann Gibbon’s new book The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors? Because after 10 years as a science writer following human evolution for Science magazine, Gibbons has a uniquely informed outsider status. The First Human is a clear exposition of the discoveries and personalities of the last century of paleontological research, from Eugene Dubois’s 1891 discovery of Java Man (.8-1.2 million years old) through the 2002 discovery by Michel Brunet of the hominid skull called Toumaї (6-7 mya). In particular, Gibbons details the process of evaluation that each of the new finds over the past 40 years has undergone—and the undeniable evidence of dirty trick campaigns waged between the principal investigators, in a surprisingly non-judgmental manner.

Densely end-noted and with an extensive bibliography and index, The First Human is organized by the time of discovery. This allows Gibbons to follow the chain of events that made one particular story big headline news and another, similarly important, stay hidden from the world press. Admittedly, this makes the focus of the book on the chase rather than the fossils themselves—and since the interpretations change as the story unfolds, this may be slightly confusing. Luckily, Gibbons includes some very useful charts and a map of the region for the reader’s comfort.

The pivotal moment in this book occurs during a joint press conference between three scholars (Michel Brunet, Brigitte Senut, and Tim White) at a face-to-face debate at the French Academy of Sciences in September 2004. Science writer Sophie Coisne asks why researchers waste so much time arguing and denying one another access to the hominid fossils. It is a good question, and Gibbons uses the hypothetical answer to summarize the available evidence, and discuss why it is unlikely to be ever gathered under one roof. Might it be possible to collect the data on the Internet? Perhaps--but only if researchers are willing to participate.

I thoroughly enjoyed The First Human , even if the pettiness of the scholars made me cringe. Some might say it would have been better to have left all the heat out: but it is clear that the heat--the competition to find the earliest human ancestor--is what drives the search for the origins of human kind. This fascinating look into the men and women of the search for the earliest human ancestor is well worth investigating on your own.