Early Humans

Children's Literature - Joyce Rice

If you had lived in Egypt, six thousand years ago, you would have been told that you were created only after the great Sun god and all the lesser gods had been created. If your family were a part of the Yuchi Indian tribe in Tennessee, you would be taught that the Sun played a part in your creation, as light fell over the land. These are what are known as "creation myths." Around 600 BC, Greek philosophers began to search for natural causes to explain the formation of the world. Scholars such as Plato, Aristotle and others began to lay the early foundation for the study of modern science. Readers will learn about the origins of man and the continuing efforts to study fossils and other archeological treasures. A glossary, detailed index, and further reading list are included. This series, "The Story of Science," will be a welcome addition to the upper elementary science classroom.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Two broad overviews. Dance covers geological theory from the ancient Greeks to modern plate tectonics. Earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers, islands, and other geologic phenomenon are included as well as projected plate movement in the future. Early Humans discusses human evolution and the anthropological search for earliest forms of human life. Neandertals, Homo erectus, and early hominids are investigated. In both books, fact boxes enrich the texts. Black-and-white and full-color photographs, drawings, charts, graphs, and maps, generally of high quality, illustrate the volumes. Dance would pair well with Martin Redfern's The Kingfisher Young People's Book of Planet Earth (Kingfisher, 1999) as an up-to-date geology presentation.-Elizabeth Stumpf, Clearfield Middle School, PA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|