Ten thousand years ago, a species of human came into existence in southern Africa. His teeth were smaller than ours; his face smaller. His brain... one third larger. He soon became extinct. What does that say about the chances for survival of Homo sapiens. These are some of the questions Loren Eiseley addresses in exploring our origins. From oxygen breathing fish who, under necessity, used fins to pull itself over land to the next pond to monkeys who finally came down from trees to walk in the savanna, Eisley eloquently puts into words our immense journey. ( )

Despite--or perhaps because of--his elegant writing style, you need to pay close attention when reading Loren Eiseley. For someone who writes about science, for instance, he never gives specific locations. It is all like a long ago memory that may or may not have actually happened. It's hard to know exactly how to interpret some of these pieces. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one I read, The Night Country. I think this is perhaps because so much of its talk about evolution is a bit outdated. It is in the most personal moments, such as the story about a caged hawk, when Eiseley reaches the heights of his ability and leaves us with emotional, unforgettable images and lessons. ( )

from cover In an unsusual blend of Scientific knowledge and imaginative vision, Loren Eiseley tells the story of man. Anthropologist and naturalist, Dr. Eiseley reveals life's endless mysteries in his own experiences, departing from their immediacy into meditaionts on the long past, wandering-intimate with nature-along the paths and byways of time, and then returning to the present. 'Once in a long while the reviewer comes across an unpetentious book which is such a delight that he feels like going out into the street and buttonholing passers-by into sharing his peasure...[The Immense Journey] glows with the wisdom and originality of a scientist who has pondered the riddle of existence and possesses the eloquence to put his thinking into words.'-John Barkham in the Saturday Review Syndicate 'He is the master of an imaginative and swiftly moving prose that grips the reder and bears him willingly to enchanted realms. The appearance of such a book as this is an event...Dr. Eiseley has written a work of true science which must surely take its place also as great literature.'-London Times Literary Supplement Contents The Slit The Flow of the River The Great Deeps The Snout How Flowers Changed the World The Real Secret of Piltdown The Maze The Dream Animal Man of the Future Little Men and Flying Saucers The Judgment of the Birds The Bird and the Machine The Secret of Life

Five stars except for being 20% outdated. ( )

read in 1980's sometimes. It's a bit dim in my memory. Had some likable writing. Theme does not stick with me. ( )