Ancestral passions : the Leakey family and the quest for humankind's beginnings

Summary: No other family in history has dominated a scientific field as the Leakey family has. Louis, Mary, and Richard Leakey have made key fossil discoveries that have shaped and reshaped our understanding of human origins. As a member of the tiny minority of scientists who believed that humankind originated in Africa millions of years ago, Louis Leakey helped to lay the theoretical groundwork for the science of paleoanthropology. In Ancestral Passions, Virginia Morell has written the first full biography of the Leakeys, a vivid portrait of a family whose contributions to science remain unmatched.

Record details

ISBN: 9780684801926
ISBN: 0684801922
Physical Description: print
638 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 557-617) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Kabete -- From Cambridge to Olduvai -- Laying claim to the earliest man -- Louis and Mary -- Disaster at Kanam -- Olduvai's bounty -- Consequences -- Cloak and dagger -- Race for the Miocene -- A life in the sediments -- Louis and Kenyatta -- Our man -- Fame, fortune, and Zinj -- Mary's dig -- Murder and mayhem -- The human with ability -- Chimpanzees and other loves -- Richard makes his move -- A girl for the gorillas -- To the Omo -- Breaking away -- Richard strikes oil -- Mining hominids at Olduvai -- Dearest Dian -- Father and son -- Jackpot at Koobi Fora -- Misadventure at Calico -- An unstoppable man -- Roar of the old lion -- An end and a beginning -- The best bones -- The gladiators' clash -- On the trail of Homo Erectus -- Mother and son -- A new contender -- The name game -- Footprints for the mantelpiece -- Battling over bones -- Richard reborn -- How very human -- Grande Dame of archaeology -- A new challenge.