Reviews

Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human by Richard E. Leakey, Roger Lewin

unsweettea's review

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It's very broad, Leakey covers a lot of ground, not merely the physical remains, but he draws on other scientists' research to talk about language, consciousness, religion, art and culture. The very first chapters seem to jump around a lot; they move back and forth from discoveries to theory, needlesslessly, it seemed to me. But things settled down further in the book, and it was very well written and very interesting. He does often give an opinion on things he's not really qualified to, but it's his book, so I guess that's okay. I had read The First Word, by Christine Kenneally, which talks about some similiar ideas about language and evolution. Her book is more focused and in depth, and equally well written.