Pleasant and quick to read, this is mainly aimed at a very large audience -it's actually based on a docu' TV. That means, of course, that it's very basic and simple. More, so much has been published on the topic since then that, even though it's a precursor in its genre there's not a lot to learn here. A good read none-the-less.

A marvelous study of mans rise shown through the lens of scientific discoveries. Written for the intelligent layman, and the basis of the lauded TV series, this is an essential book for anyone interested in the evolution of science.

I did not finish this book so I won't officially count it in my own stats as read. But there's no real way to indicate that here. They need an "abandoned" choice. The reason why I'm reviewing it is because there are numerous errors in the first chapter that make this a problematic read. That's as far as I got. These errors have to do with human evolution. This book was originally published in 1973 so that explains some of the mistakes, but not all. And the mistakes that would not be blamed on the time of writing made me unable to feel comfortable with what else I might find in the book, perhaps errors that I didn't recognize as errors.An added disappointment is that there is a foreword by Richard Dawkins written in 2011. Dawkins certainly would have recognized these errors, which makes me suspect that he didn't actually read the book. I cannot recommend this book.