What I'm Reading: Lucy

In an effort to be true to myself and also to write more and about things that I like, I'm going to try some new things. Right now I'm going to try a What I'm Reading post, which I may continue to write. Let's see how it works, shall we?


Some of you may know that before I was ready to formally declare my nerd status with an English major, I studied anthropology (the social science, not the clothing line, which is spelled Anthropologie). I'm still interested in anthropology, so much so that occasionally I have a hard time watching Bones on Fox because I want to be Kathy Reichs. Right now I'm feeding this interest (read: obsession) by reading a book called Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind by Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey.


The great thing about this book is that it matches the hard science explanations with closer looks at famous anthropologists and their great discoveries, meaning that it reads less like a scientific paper than like a novel. There have been a few places where my eyes have crossed during an explanation of the science (potassium-argon dating, I'm looking at you), but for the most part, it's been really fascinating. The book itself is almost an introduction to physical anthropology. Though the book is about Lucy (the famous bones of one 3+ million year old hominid discovered in Ethiopia--the oldest and most complete set of human-like bones anthropology has discovered), it winds its way through the history of physical anthropology and paleoanthropology to explain the significance of finding Lucy. It's history, science, and good old fashioned storytelling, all in one book.


My favorite part of the book, however, is how Don Johanson, an anthropologist, acknowledges the faults of anthropology and acknowledges the biases of anthropologists. Frequently, anthropologists pretend to themselves and others that they are completely objective, that nothing clouds their interpretations of the evidence. But the reality is that every human brings biases to everything they do; we can't leave them behind. In looking at the goals and dreams of the anthropologists in the book, including himself, he highlights the lack of objectivity that they all have, but also tells how many anthropologists have understood that enough to try to work around it.


I'm not done with the book yet, but I already love it. I think one question I can anticipate from some is what I believe about human evolution, since I am a very religious person. My opinion is this: science and religion are two different types of knowledge that don't have to invalidate each other. As humans, we don't know everything about science, and we don't know everything about God. I don't know how the science of physical anthropology and evolution fit with what I know from religion. But that doesn't mean that they can't fit. And maybe someday we'll figure it out, if we don't stop trying.