Precursors

How did our ancestors come to invent language, to shape the world with tools, to create art, and to envision the future? How did they evolve into one of the most successful species on Earth? This book tells you this missing link in the story of life on our planet. Follow your family tree all the back, to Ardipithecus ramidus, the first of our primate ancestors to walk upright. Discover the first sparks of reason in the early humans as they learn to adapt in an ever-changing world. Trace the evolution of basic human traits like compassion, friendship and love. And make your way across the frozen wastelands of ice age Europe with the Neanderthals who dominated the planet... until they were finally forced to give in to Homo sapiens.