Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

I've read many of Carl Sagan's books and almost all are 5 stars (see my reviews). I'm a huge fan and am sad at Carl's passing. I was interested in this book as I had a Paleontology course in college and did a paper on the evolution of the horse.Ann Druyan his wife helped in the creation of this book.As usual Carl was able to write about a complex subject in terms for the average layman to understand. He was a master at this. The book reads well. Unfortunately the first 2/3s of the book for me was basically a rehash of information like natural selection and organic molecules to single cells to more complex organisms I already knew. I liked the quotes from Charles Darwin and others that tried to describe the evolutionary process and others that thought Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species was an abomination.There was one chapter that I found repulsive, crude and really detracted from the book.....Gangland. Carl tried writing a chapter as a Chimpanzee gang would think and talk in human terms if it could. Very thuggish, rude and crude. For me it had no place in the book...1 star chapter. Lots of the F word...all unnecessary. I already knew from various nature shows how cunning and at times savage even to their own group Chimpanzees could be. This chapter could of been written differently and not so crude and vulgar.Interesting to know our DNA is 99.6% the same as the Chimpanzee. That's very close.I did enjoy the later 1/4 of the book where Carl describes the different primates life styles and how the sexes treat each other. For me a lot of new information in the later part of the book ...5 stars. Last chapter Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was a great summary and really makes you think we should not put ourselves down but realize we have in our genes animal instincts and much of our nature is from our DNA , from millions of years ago. We are part savage but also have the ability to do so much good.Carl shows that many of the primates do have many aspects of their nature that are indeed human. Also we should not think that animals are mindless automatons but have feelings, wants and some thinking going on. To what animals really think about and their inner thoughts we really don't know yet.Some of the primates do plot and plan and seem to have a consciousness. Do animals have a soul? I firmly believe my 2 dogs do.Probably if the reader wanted deep explanation of the Natural Selection process on various organisms going up the evolutionary latter the first 2/3s of the book would be extremely interesting but for me only 3 star. Gangland chapter should of been written different without such crude vulgarities or not written at all. Just a distraction...1 star. The last 1/4 of the book was vintage Carl Sagan that I really liked 5 star. A lot of new information for me. All combined a 3 star book. Disappointed as almost all Carl's other books I've read were 5 stars.As an amateur astronomer of 40 years I knew of Carl Sagan. Even though he didn't know me I considered him a friend. I miss him.

I learned three things from reading this book:1) The Earth is billions of years old and we have been around for 1% of its history so, whatever we do to it, it is only in our own detriment. The idea of the destruction of this planet is completely anthropocentric and selfish.2) There is nothing that we do that our closest relatives, the apes, can't do also, in different degrees.3) If we adduce our intellect as the finest distinction between us and other animals, not only are we wrong but we are also neglecting to reflect on what that intellect has led us to. Technology is often cited as an example of how evolved we are but, really, what have we mostly applied that technology to? Making our lives more comfortable, sure, but I have to wonder what that is doing to our genetic code and our chances of survival. And let's not forget that there's still unbelievable poverty and social inequity and people who would have enough to eat if others weren't taking it away from them for a profit.Not to mention that no species of animal living in the wild has ever committed mass murder or waged war on a large scale.This book is a mind-opener and it puts humans in our biological place.The only objection I have is how the authors insist on calling out their critics ("expert reviewers") in footnotes or right in the middle of a sentence. It's distracting and kind of childish.

After I read The Dragons of Eden, I learned that Carl Sagan explored more than cosmology. He also explored evolutionary biology-stimulated by his wife, the biologist Ann Druyan. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a book that Sagan and Druyan wrote together. It is much more scientifically rigorous and sophisticated than The Dragons of Eden, and deals not with the evolution of the tripartite brain, but on the evolution of consciousness itself. Druyan and Sagan write that we are like babies left in a basket on a doorstep, never knowing and always wondering what our ancestry is. For me, the most influential of the book's explorations involve the study of the levels of consciousness in other animals, aside from the human animal. Through study after study, many amusing and all interesting, Druyan and Sagan emphasize that the difference between the consciousness of the human animal and other animals is "a difference of degree rather than kind." Indeed, some of the studies indicate that some of the other animals may have consciousness that surpasses in degree that that of the human animal. The book stresses that we will not understand who we are until we view ourselves as part of a continuum, and the book also explorers the history of human resistance to this idea. One or two of the chapters were too difficult for me to understand as a non-scientist, but I was basically able to understand the book while only skimming the difficult chapters about DNA construction and such. It was nice to know that rigorous science was part of the book. This is one of those books that will change your outlook on the world.

This book is a rare and exceedingly successful attempt to address many of the most difficult question regarding nature of organic life, including humans, based entirely on scientific, empirical evidence. It avoids the unnecessary baggage of supernatural myths, superstitions, and meaningless religious dogma. Sagan and Druyan challenge us to consider the complexity and natural wonder of life without succumbing to the usual, arrogant, and quite unsupportable assumption that humans are a special and unique creation for which the entire universe was made.This book is written in a clear and easily understandable manner. I highly recommend this book for every reader. But especially for those who have found religious explanations of life, the world, and universe unconvincing.

Libro godibilissimo del Maestro della divulgazione scientifica, da leggere e far leggere ai più giovani.

Voyage étonnant jusqu’au tout début de la vie dont nous sommes les manifestations, simples maillons de la chaîne qui va se poursuivre par le transhumanisme qui est à notre porte et pour la première fois l’evolution subira l’intervention de l’humain. Appréciable occasion de se souvenir des étapes parcourues et dont bizarrement l’embryon humain garde la trace.

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (SoFA) ist eine Reise durch die Evolution, die Anfänge von Technologie, Kultur und Zivilisation, und das Verhältnis des modernen (westlichen) Menschen zu seinen nächsten Verwandten, den Menschenaffen.Carl Sagan und Ann Druyan erzählen dabei keine durchgehende Geschichte. Vielmehr konzentriert sich jedes Kapitel auf ein eigenes Thema, sodass man das Buch auch mal eine Woche liegen lassen kann und trotzdem keine Angst haben muss, nicht wieder hinein zu finden.Das (grob) erste Drittel bespricht die Grundlagen. Geologie und (später) Biochemie des im Entstehen begriffenen Planeten Erde, die ersten reproduktionsfähigen Moleküle und DNA als Grundlage des irdischen Lebens: Was ist das, Leben? Was ist Bewusstsein, Geist, das Selbst?Der Rest des Buches betrachtet (Menschen-) Affen, und macht anhand von Fallbeispielen klar, dass sie keineswegs "nur Tiere" sind.Als roter Faden dient dabei das Verhältnis der Menschen zu den Tieren und insbesondere den Affen: Was unterscheidet uns? Anatomie? Kultur, Glaube oder Moral? Technologie? Stück für Stück werden einzelne Kriterien und ihre Vertreter und Gegner vorgestellt. Sagan und Druyan nehmen dann jedes Argument auseinander und zeigen, dass es alles andere als einfach ist zu sagen, was uns denn nun zum "Menschen" macht. Am Ende wird klar, dass der Unterschied eben nicht klar ist, und dass es vielleicht wesentlich mehr Sinn macht, die Primaten als größere Gruppe zu sehen und keine endgültige Trennlinie zwischen uns und "ihnen" ziehen zu wollen.Sprachlich ist SoFA nicht Sagans größter Triumph (deswegen gebe ich auch nicht alle fünf Sterne). Wer "Cosmos" oder "Contact" gelesen hat, weiß, zu welchen Höhen Sagan fähig war, und seine späteren Werke lassen etwas davon vermissen. Trotzdem versteht er es, dem Leser ohne Geschwafel ernsthafte wissenschaftliche Inhalte und -- vor allem -- auch eine Begeisterung dafür zu vermitteln. Sagans akademischer Hintergrund hat übrigens einen sehr positiven Nebeneffekt: Zu allem und jedem sind gute Quellenangaben vorhanden, die über 40 der letzten Seiten des Buches ausmachen.Wer immer schon ein bisschen mehr über Schimpansen, Bonobos und Gorillas wissen wollte, dem sei SoFA herzlichst empfohlen. Nur ob man danach noch guten Gewissens im Zoo ins Menschenaffengehege gehen kann, wage ich zu bezweifeln.

Hands down Carl Sagan is my favorite science author. He had a gift to explain extraordinary scientific facts to the common man. Everytime I read one of his books, I learn something which changes my view of life and the world as a whole forever. Its an absolute pleasure to take one of his books to a cosy corner with a cup of tea and just get lost into his beautifully written words which comes across to you from years past vis Sagans voice of reason.In Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors Carl Sagan gives a summary account of the evolutionary history of life on Earth, with special focus upon certain traits central to human nature which are rooted in the deep past, and derived from our remote ancestors who belonged to different species altogether.

Hands down Carl Sagan is my favorite science author. He had a gift to explain extraordinary scientific facts to the common man. Everytime I read one of his books, I learn something which changes my view of life and the world as a whole forever. Its an absolute pleasure to take one of his books to a cosy corner with a cup of tea and just get lost into his beautifully written words which comes across to you from years past vis Sagans voice of reason.In Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors Carl Sagan gives a summary account of the evolutionary history of life on Earth, with special focus upon certain traits central to human nature which are rooted in the deep past, and derived from our remote ancestors who belonged to different species altogether.