From diaries, newspaper stories, and interviews, Reader introduces the people who have studied the evolution of man and examines their theories about man's origins

Missing links: The hunt for earliest man

Politics & Social Sciences

READER, John

Anthropology

Collins

This book provides an examination of how the wide range of behavioural patterns and social organization has allowed humans to adapt to a wide variety of environments. In a series of portraits, the authors present a diverse range of societies, both "primitive" and "advanced", from the rice groves of Bali, to the fisherman of Maine, the hunters of the Kalahari and the city-dwellers of Chicago.

Man On Earth

Publisher

Traces the history of paleontology, looks at the age of dinosaurs, explains the theory of evolution, and suggests where human beings fit into nature's scheme

The Rise of Life: the first 3.5 billion years

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Crescent/ Outlet

Explores the adaptation of different cultures to the environmental and geographical conditions they live with, to find the best means of food production and subsistence

Man on Earth: A Celebration of Mankind: Portraits of Human Culture in a Multitude of Environments

Social Sciences

Harpercollins

A magisterial study of the city from its beginnings to the mega-conurbations of today. Cities is a fascinating exploration of the nature of the city and city life, of its structures, development and inhabitants. From the ruins of the earliest cities to the present, John Reader explores how cities coalesce, develop and thrive, how they can decline and die, how they remake themselves. He investigates their parasitic relationship with the countryside around them, the webs of trade and immigration they rely upon to survive, how they feed and water themselves and dispose of their wastes. The book is a sweeping exploration of what the city is and has been, fit to stand alongside Lewis Mumford’s 1962 classic The City in History.

Cities

History

Middle East

Vintage Books

The story of one of the world’s most important food crops.From the first nomads travelling down the coast of the Americas nearly 15,000 years ago to the contemporary uses of potato starch in industrializing China, the story of the potato is both satisfying and fascinating. Consisting mainly of energy-giving carbohydrate, protein, vitamin C and potassium, potatos have been grown safely and cheaply underground in almost any weather and soil conditions, helping to fuel industrial revolution and population explosions. As global population swells and famine remains a constant risk, and environmental sustainability becomes ever more crucial, Reader asks what role the spud still has to play.The familiar, ubiquitous potato is part of our sense of mundane normality, but its story is one of struggle, disease and survival. The Untold History of the Potato is a fascinating exploration of the biology, history and social influence of our most humble and versatile foodstuff.

The Untold History of the Potato

From diaries, newspaper stories, and interviews, Reader introduces the people who have studied the evolution of man and examines their theories about man's origins

Missing Links

Penguin??Books

Reprinted Pelican Edition of 1979 .

Missing Links: The Hunt for Earliest Man; Revised Edition

Drawing on many years of African experience, John Reader has written a book of startling grandeur and scope that recreates the great panorama of African history, from the primeval cataclysms that formed the continent to the political upheavals facing much of the continent today. Reader tells the extraordinary story of humankind's adaptation to the ferocious obstacles of forest, river and desert, and to the threat of debilitating parasites, bacteria and viruses unmatched elsewhere in the world. He also shows how the world's richest assortment of animals and plants has helped - or hindered - human progress in Africa.

Africa A Biography Of The Continent

Africa

Penguin Uk

This is the story of the search for humanity's origins--from the Middle Ages, when questions of the earth's antiquity first began to arise, through to the latest genetic discoveries that show the interrelatedness of all living creatures. Central to the story is the part played by fossils--first, in establishing the age of the Earth; then, following Darwin, in the pursuit of possible "Missing Links" that would establish whether or not humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor. John Reader's lifelong passion for this quest--palaeoanthropology--began when he reported on the celebrated "Lucy" finds in Ethiopia, for Life Magazine. Drawing on both historic and recent research, he tells the fascinating story of the science as it has developed from the activities of a few dedicated individuals, into the rigorous multidisciplinary work of today. His arresting photographs give a unique insight into the fossils, the discoverers, and the settings. His vivid narrative reveals both the context in which our ancestors evolved, and also the realities confronting the modern scientist. The story he tells is peopled by eccentrics and enthusiasts, and punctuated by controversy and even fraud. It is a celebration of discoveries--Neanderthal Man in the 1850s, Java Man (1891), Australopithecus (1925), Peking Man (1926), Homo habilis (1964) and beyond. It is a story of fragmentary shards of evidence, and the competing interpretations built upon them. And it is a tale of scientific breakthroughs--dating technology, genetics and molecular biology--that have enabled us to set the fossil evidence in the context of human evolution. Boasting seventy-five original color photographs--taken by the author, specifically for this book--Missing Links offers a wealth of scientific insight.

Missing Links: In Search of Human Origins

Oxford University Press

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Books by READER, John