Popular Science Review - Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction

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Review - Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction - Bernard Wood

The "Very Short Introduction" series from Oxford University Press is gaining a good reputation for putting across information in a way that is concise, but readable, and this entry in the series by Bernard Wood keeps up the good work.

Although he's not shy to use (after explanation) technical terms like clade and hominin that sit oddly on the non-specialist eye, Wood does a good job of introducing each element along the way. He gives a quick historical background of the development of our ideas on human evolution before plunging into the detail of what we now know from the fossil record (with admirable thoroughness, he explains what fossils are and how they are formed, and spends a moment on the way dendrochronology has transformed carbon dating.)

The book is modern enough to include Homo Floresiensis - the so-called hobbit (though not in any great detail), and gives a balanced view on issues that still remain contentious, like the exact mode (be it "out of Africa" or multiregional) of humanity's spread across the planet.

Perhaps the only real negative in the writing is a certain dryness, though Wood is never less than readable. Of course there are limitations from the format. The book itself is a convenient size to fit in the pocket, but that makes it less than ideal for actually reading - it's just a bit too small unless you have tiny hands, and the print size might prove challenging to those who haven't quite admitted to needing reading glasses yet. And the compact form doesn't make for the ideal popular science book, because there isn't really room to talk around the subject and add the fascinating context that makes for a great popular science read - but that's the only reason the book scores as low as three stars.

Only in paperback (the Amazon.com claim to also have a hardback seems to be referring to a different title)

Reviewed by Jo Reed

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