Lucy

The Beginnings of Humankind

By: Donald C. Johanson, Maitland Edey

Narrated by: Donald C. Johanson

Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

The story of the discovery of “Lucy” - the oldest, best-preserved skeleton of any erect-walking human ancestor ever found.

When Donald Johanson found a partial skeleton, approximately 3.5 million years old, in a remote region of Ethiopia in 1974, a headline-making controversy was launched that continues today. Bursting with all the suspense and intrigue of a fast-paced adventure novel, here is Johanson’s lively account of the extraordinary discovery of “Lucy.” 

By expounding the controversial change Lucy makes in our view of human origins, Johanson provides a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the history of paleoanthropology and the colorful, eccentric characters who were and are a part of it. Never before have the mystery and intricacy of our origins been so clearly and compellingly explained as in this astonishing and dramatic book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©1981 Donald C. Johanson and Maitland A. Edey (P)2019 Early Man Publishing

Powerful and terrific

The audio version of “Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind” comes into the world as science and reason are besieged in every quarter. The timing for this clarion call that we pay attention to who we are and how we came to be here is ideal. It should light anew the fire to view ourselves as human beings with a common ancestor.

The Iliad is a great tale. Still, I wondered as I read it years ago how much more lively and moving it might have been to hear Homer narrate it directly to me. In 1981, I was inspired when I read Johanson’s “Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind,” for the first time. I have it read more than once since. Like the Iliad, it is a great tale. Still, I wondered for decades, knowing the story as I do, how it would be to hear Johanson relate the whole tale, privately and uninterrupted, just to me.

As I listened to the audio book alone through ear pods, hearing Johanson detail everything about the science, history, and adventure of his experiences in Ethiopia and around the world in the 1970s, it felt fresh and new. I had the sensation of enjoying the best presentation of a concert music presentation I ever had heard. I might know Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D minor, and remember fondly the first time I heard it, but the current live performance by a Master is its own wonderful experience.

Johanson’s oral rendition of “Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind” is for everybody. If you do not know the story, it will exhilarate you, and teach you quite a lot. If you know the story, this narrative will reward you with a richly satisfying experience. Thank you to Johanson for taking on this project and to William Hartel for engineering it from an abstract hope to a concrete product.

Great story

Beautifully narrated by the author, the story of how Lucy was found was fascinating. I highly recommend this book. Fossil Men continues some of this with stories of Tim White in Ethiopia, though the political situation was much worse in the 1980's. Overall, an excellent book that still holds up well 40 years later.

Worth your time, I learned tons of science

It's been months since I finished the book and I still remember all the facts about the Lucy fossils. I learned what potassium argon dating is and how it shows us how old a fossil is, and I have a better vocabulary to describe different species of early man. So was it entertaining? For the most part, yes. Learning about the top paleontologists and the different skills they had, their different personalities, their arguments and their support of each other made it seem like I could have been there, helping in some little way (and pretending to also be a scientist). There's also dangerous people in some of those dig sites in Africa, and the scientists have to have armed men with them. There's a few scares, etc.

BE AWARE...Johanson narrates his own book, and at first you might be annoyed at this choice because he has a slightly weird, slow voice. It's the only book I've ever changed the speed for. I put in on about 1.4 to speed him up to a normal conversation speed, and it was fine. In the end, I enjoyed that he was the reader because his voice is the actual, real world voice that would have been there in those dig sites, and I came to think of him as someone I knew. If you imagine being there with them, well, it's makes for a good experience.

really interesting

it was fascinating. the author took technical story and made it riveting. I enjoyed it.

Just wow!

Excellent book, a classic that any prehistory enthusiast should read! The story is well structured, it reads almost like a novel, the descriptions are superb and the science backing it up solid!

narration

It was such a pleasure to hear the narration by the discoverer of the fossil - you can almost feel the excitement of unearthing the bones in his retelling of the tale.

A glimpse into our search for ourselves.

A fascinating insight into the period surrounding one of the most important finds into our search for origins.

Having Donald Johanson as narrator enhances the experience immeasurably.

I Love LUCY.

A bit dated and the jury might still be out on where Australopithecus Afarensis stands in the grand riddle of human origins but the story of discovery and the human behaviors that surround it, is timeless. A great read and a compelling work. Bravo!

The title is a little misleading

Overall this book was ok, as an average reader and not someone in the field of anthropology. I should have read the description better as I thought this book was specifically about the fossil “Lucy”. This book is more about the history of anthropology, the bickering between experts, and some sprinkling of the “Lucy” fossil. I suggest you carefully consider this book only if you’re a student in the field, or really interested; not if you’re a novice.

Very well written. A classic.

This is truly awsome. Not only for being as informative as a great science book shouble be but because of its literary merit. It is very very well written. A classic.

Laborious Listen

I gave up on this with around 8 hours to go, just couldn't get on with the narration at all and found it distracting and very laborious listening. A shame because the subject matter fascinates me. I feel a narrator other than the author would have worked better unfortunately.