Title:
First steps : how upright walking made us human / Jeremy DeSilva.
ISBN:
9780062938497
Personal Author:
Edition:
First edition.
Publication Information:
New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021]
©2021
Physical Description:
xvii, 334 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm
Contents:
Introduction -- The origin of upright walking. How we walk ; T. rex, the Carolina Butcher, and the first bipeds ; "How the human stood upright" and other just-so stories about bipedalism ; Lucy's ancestors ; Ardi and the River Gods -- Becoming human. Ancient footprints ; Many ways to walk a mile ; Hominins on the move ; Migration to Middle Earth -- Walk of life. Baby steps ; Birth and bipedalism ; Gait differences and what they mean ; Myokines and the cost of immobility ; Why walking helps us think ; Of ostrich feet and knee replacements -- Conclusion: The emphatic ape.
Summary:
Human are the only mammals to walk on two rather than four legs, a locomotion known as bipedalism. This has its drawbacks: giving birth is more difficult; our running speed is much slower than that of other animals; and we suffer ailments from hernias to scoliosis. DeSilva explores how unusual and extraordinary this seemingly everyday ability is-- and shows how upright walking is a gateway to many of the other attributes that make us human. -- adapted from jacket
OCLC Number:
on1244114018
Availability:
Eagan - Wescott~1
Hastings - Pleasant Hill~1
