Almost Adam

Rating:
Summary: one scientist who loved this book
Review: Actually, I'm surprised at the somewhat negative reviews of this book. The premise was fascinating and the story moved well without extraneous 'stuff'....I couldn't put the book down and read it in a weekend. It went on the 'keeper' pile, which I can't really say for most of the book I pick up based on 'excellent' Amazon.com reviews. If you enjoy thinking about ancestral humans and the possibility that a pocket of our genetic ancestors CAN still exist in an isolated African location, try this book! I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: An Unexpected Find
Review: I bought this book two years ago at a "dollar store" during an ice storm which left us without electricity for two weeks. There wasn't much to do so I bought this book thinking it probably wouldn't be too great; I mean I spent three bucks on it at the dollar store. But, I hoped it would ward off the boredom. I didn't get to start reading it until a month ago and was I ever surprised. This is a great book! As the last reviewer stated, it's a great way to teach science through fiction. I had never put too much thought into how humans evolved. I have even found myself watching The Discovery Channel to find out more about the protohumans.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Great Book
Review: I loved this book so much and was involved in it from start to finish. I liked the parts where they involved protohumans. It was great how Popescu interpreted real characters, such as Leakey, into his fictious novel. For anyone thinking of reading this book, I give it 5 stars and highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: I've read worse; read better
Review: If you're looking for an educational read into our ancestor's lives, you'll probably enjoy this book. But if you're looking for an exciting, action-filled novel, look somewhere else; "Almost Adam" isn't for you. Try "Neanderthal" by John Darnton. His pre-human voyage is far more thrilling.

Rating:
Summary: Mankind¿s Beginning in Conjecture
Review: Mankind's Beginning in Conjecture

This is a great book because of its entertaining way of teaching about some of the more interesting aspects of paleo-anthropology and anthropology in general. The author, Petru Popescu, did an excellent job of researching his subject having consulted actual anthropologists. He obviously researched African politics and culture, as well, to make his characters believable. I also found it refreshing that many of the African characters were both positive and protagonists.

Some of the ideas about the development from primate to Homo Sapien in terms of social, physical, and emotional development were very intriguing. To give an example, I found the idea of early Neanderthals and different versions of humanity living concurrently and interbreeding to be fascinating. To think that we picked up, as modern humans, many successful traits from "evolutionary dead ends" such as the Neanderthals is really captivating.

The book itself is the story of one anthropologist, Ken Lauder, a Californian "beach bum" type hiding out from responsibility, in far off Kenya. In the course of his existence in Kenya, he makes a big discovery that could rock the anthropological world: a possible living "missing link." Ken and his friend, a local African with connection, are in the process of exploring their discovery when a civil war breaks out in Kenya and everything turns into chaos. The better part of the text explores what the field of anthropology is like (according to a fiction writer who did some research), what life in Africa is like and particularly the volatile politics of small African nations, and Ken's erstwhile existence after being abandoned in the African wild. While Ken is abandoned in the wild, he is befriended by a protohuman that Ken nicknames "Long Toes." Ken and "Long Toes" form a father/son relationship that forms the core of the book.

If no other reason, read this book for its easy way of introducing scientific ideas about the origin of Homo Sapiens and their evolution. This book is a way for people who are scared of science to find out how enjoyable science can be. Enjoy!

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan