The Last Lost World
Ice Ages, Human Origins, and the Invention of the Pleistocene
by Lydia V. Pyne
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The Last Lost World
Lasting from approximately 2.6 million to 12,000 years ago, the Pleistocene was a world of mammoths and wooly rhinos, ice sheets and warm spells, and extinctions and origins. It’s the epoch that saw humans evolve into their present form. And, as The Last Lost World explains, it’s the age that created ours, in more ways than one.
Written by Lydia V. Pyne and Stephen J. Pyne, this book examines this Ice Age from a unique perspective that reveals not just how it led to the dawn of humankind, but also how our study of it changed the way we viewed ourselves. The coverage is impressive, discussing topics like the effects of the ice sheets on the planet, how the discovery of fire (and cooking) affected human evolution, and how the spread of humans may have led to mass extinctions.
What sets The Last Lost World apart, however, is its parallel narrative of how our knowledge of the Pleistocene came about and how this shaped our intellectual culture. Showing how new sciences were born, and how our origin story changed as the ideas of Aristotle and Aquinas gave way to those of Darwin, this is a remarkable synthesis of science and history. It makes fascinating reading for anyone intrigued by our past.
Hardcover Book : 320 pages
Publisher: Viking Penguin/Div of Penguin Putnam ( June 28, 2012 )
Item #: 13-581998
ISBN: 9780670023639
Product Dimensions: 6.0 x 9.0 inches
Product Weight: 18.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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