Synopses & Reviews
This mainstream, four-color physical anthropology text is the best selling text in the brief physical anthropology market. The text presents a balanced, thorough introduction to the field of physical anthropology that also reflects the current state of the field. The heredity and evolution chapters (Chapters 1-5) have been expanded and updated to reflect the tremendous advances of molecular biology in all phases of physical anthropology, and the hominid evolution chapters (Chapters 8-11) have been reorganized and reinterpreted to reflect current academic thought springing from recent major finds. To make the text more accessible, the Sixth Edition includes many new visuals that, together with the many charts, helpful tables, multimedia, and engaging writing style, will bring the study of physical anthropology to life for today's student.
About the Author
Robert Jurmain received an A.B. in Anthropology from UCLA, and a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from Harvard. He taught at San Jose State University from 1975-2004 and is now a Professor Emeritus. During his teaching career he taught courses in all the major branches of physical anthropology, with the greatest concentration in general education teaching for introductory students. His areas of research interest are skeletal biology of humans and non-human primates; paleopathology; and paleoanthropology. In addition to his three textbooks, which together have appeared in 23 editions, he is author of numerous articles in research journals as well as the book, STORIES FROM THE SKELETON: BEHAVIORAL RECONSTRUCTION IN HUMAN OSTEOLOGY (1999, GordonandBreach Publishers).Lynn Kilgore earned her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and holds an affiliate faculty position at Colorado State University, where her primary research interests are osteology and paleopathology. Her research has focused on evidence of disease and trauma in human and great ape skeletons.Wenda Trevathan is Regents Professor of Anthropology at New Mexico State University, where she has been on the faculty since 1983. She is a biological anthropologist whose research focuses on the evolutionary and biocultural factors underlying human reproduction including childbirth, maternal behavior, sexuality, and menopause. Her primary publications include works on the evolution of childbirth and evolutionary medicine. She teaches courses in physical anthropology, nutritional anthropology, medical anthropology, evolutionary medicine, and anthropology of reproduction.Harry Nelson received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Nelson originally studied cultural anthropology, and broadened his teaching and research interests to include both cultural and physical anthropology. Dr. Nelson pursued his interest in physical anthropology when he teamed with colleague Dr. Robert Jurmain to develop a new text. The resulting first edition of INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY appeared in 1979, and has regularly been revised and updated since that time. Dr. Nelson taught at Foothill College, CA., until his retirement. In December 2000, following a long illness, Dr. Nelson passed away.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction. 2. The Development of Evolutionary Theory. 3. The Biological Basis of Life. 4. Heredity and Evolution. 5. Macroevolution: Processes of Vertebrate and Mammalian Evolution. 6. An Overview of the Primates. 7. Primate Behavior. 8. Hominid Origins. 9. The First Dispersal of the Genus Homo: Homo Erectus and Contemporaries. 10. Pre-Modern Humans. 11. The Origin and Dispersal of Modern Humans. 12. Human Biology: Patterns of Variation and Adaptation. 13. The Human Life Course. 14. Lessons from the Past, Lessons for the Future. Appendix A: Atlas of Primate Skeletal Anatomy. Appendix B: Summary of Early Hominid Fossil Finds from Africa. Appendix C: Population Genetics. Appendix D: Sexing and Aging the Skeleton. Glossary. Bibliography. Photo Credits. Index.