The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack: And Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution

The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack: And Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution

by Ian Tattersall

4.4 (140)

4.4 stars from 140 reviews

244 pages~4.1 hr readPublished by Palgrave MacmillanPublished 2015-01-01

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Fans of these authors will like this...

  • Stephen Jay Gould
  • Richard Dawkins
  • Brian Greene

Fans of these books will like this...

  • The Blind Watchmaker
  • Sapiens
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Perfect for you if...

  • You're fascinated by how science actually works, including the messier parts where bias, ego, and tradition distort the evidence.
  • You enjoy narrative nonfiction that blends memoir with rigorous critique, especially when written by someone who's lived the story.
  • You're sceptical of the idea that humans represent the pinnacle of evolution and want a contrarian take backed by fossils.

Maybe not for you if...

  • You want a straightforward textbook account of human origins without critical questioning of the field's methods.
  • You prefer books that celebrate human exceptionalism and our special place in nature.
  • You're looking for cutting-edge genetics or DNA analysis rather than a historical reassessment of fossil interpretation.

About this book

In this book, human paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall argues that a long tradition of "human exceptionalism" in paleoanthropology has distorted understanding of human evolution. Drawing on his own career—from young scientist to elder researcher—Tattersall examines the competitive world of paleoanthropology, beginning with Charles Darwin 150 years ago, continuing through the Leakey dynasty in Africa, and concluding with recent discoveries in the Caucasus. The title refers to the 1856 discovery of a very old skull cap in Germany's Neander Valley. The specimen had a brain as large as a modern human but featured a heavy low braincase with a prominent brow ridge. Scientists offered elaborate explanations to avoid accepting it as a non-direct relative, including one interpretation suggesting curved leg bones resulted from rickets and horseback riding, with chronic pain causing excessive bone development above the eye sockets. Tattersall demonstrates that the history of human evolutionary studies contains many similarly fanciful interpretations. He concludes that humans are not the perfected products of natural processes, but rather the result of substantial random chance.

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#10,312#790,219#1,570,126Jul '18May '22Nov '22Apr '26

Currently around #47K in the Kindle store — a steady mid-list seller.

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3.5★4.3★5.0★Mar '24Jan '26Jun '26RatingReviews

Currently 4.4★ from 140 reviews

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