Learn and Grow | Author Interviews | Book Summaries | Book lists | Summaries | Author Interviews | Shop Nonfiction books | Booklists | Non-fiction books | Book Reviews | Best Business Books | Best Management Books | Best Leadership Books | Best Business Strategy Books | Best Finance Books | Best Investment Books | Best History Books | Best World History Books | Best China History Books | Best India History Books | Best British India Books | Best American History Books | Best Science Books | Best Technology Books | Best Slavery Books | Best Economics Books | Best Macroeconomics Books | Best Health Books | Best Medicine History Books | Best Travel Books | Book Events | Author Events | Virtual Book Launch | Latest nonfiction books | Upcoming nonfiction books | Best University Presses | Harvard University Press | Yale University Press | Stanford University Press | Columbia University Press | Oxford University Press | Cambridge University Press | Chicago University Press | Pulitzer Prize | Recommended Books | Readara Book Experts | Readara Booklists | Readara Book summaries | Best Author Interviews | Best Nobel Prize Winners Books | Connect with Book Editors | Book Designers | Book Printers | Book Cover Designers | Best Book Agents List | Book PR and Marketing Agencies List | Book Wholesalers List Nonfiction books | Booklists | Non-fiction books | Book Reviews | Best Business Books | Best Management Books | Best Leadership Books | Best Business Strategy Books | Best Finance Books | Best Investment Books | Best History Books | Best World History Books | Best China History Books | Best India History Books | Best British India Books | Best American History Books | Best Science Books | Best Technology Books | Best Slavery Books | Best Economics Books | Best Macroeconomics Books | Best Health Books | Best Medicine History Books | Best Travel Books | Book Events | Author Events | Virtual Book Launch | Latest nonfiction books | Upcoming nonfiction books | Best University Presses | Harvard University Press | Yale University Press | Stanford University Press | Columbia University Press | Oxford University Press | Cambridge University Press | Chicago University Press | Pulitzer Prize | Recommended Books | Readara Book Experts | Readara Booklists | Readara Book summaries | Best Author Interviews | Best Nobel Prize Winners Books | Connect with Book Editors | Book Designers | Book Printers | Book Cover Designers | Best Book Agents List | Book PR and Marketing Agencies List | Book Wholesalers List | Book lists, Summaries, Author Interviews, Shop

Expedite your nonfiction book discovery process with Readara interviews, summaries and recommendations, Broaden your knowledge and gain insights from leading experts and scholars

In-depth, hour-long interviews with notable nonfiction authors, Gain new perspectives and ideas from the writer’s expertise and research, Valuable resource for readers and researchers

Optimize your book discovery process, Four-to eight-page summaries prepared by subject matter experts, Quickly review the book’s central messages and range of content

Books are handpicked covering a wide range of important categories and topics, Selected authors are subject experts, field professionals, or distinguished academics

Our editorial team includes books offering insights, unique views and researched-narratives in categories, Trade shows and book fairs, Book signings and in person author talks,Webinars and online events

Connect with editors and designers,Discover PR & marketing services providers, Source printers and related service providers

Book Image
Interview Profile Picture
Ian Tattersall

The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack:and Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution

Interview with Ian Tattersall

June 30, 2016

Sign Up to listen to full interview.

About Ian Tattersall

Ian Tattersall is currently curator emeritus in the Division of Anthropology of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He has carried out both primatological and paleontological fieldwork in countries as diverse as Madagascar, Vietnam, Surinam, Yemen, and Mauritius. Trained in archaeology and anthropology at the University of Cambridge, and in geology and vertebrate paleontology at Yale University, Ian has concentrated his research since the 1960s in three main areas: the analysis of the human fossil record and its integration with evolutionary theory, the origin of human cognition, and the study of the ecology and systematics of the lemurs of Madagascar.

Ian is also a prominent interpreter of human paleontology to the public, with numerous trade books to his credit, as well as several articles in Scientific American and the co-editorship of the definitive Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory. He lectures widely at venues around the world, and, as curator, has also been responsible for several major exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History, including Ancestors: Four Million Years of Humanity (1984); Dark Caves, Bright Visions: Life In Ice Age Europe (1986); Madagascar: Island of the Ancestors (1989); The First Europeans: Treasures from the Hills of Atapuerca (2003); the highly acclaimed Hall of Human Biology and Evolution (1993); and the successor Hall of Human Origins (2007).

more

Interview Summary

In this brief but nuanced history of his field, paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall describes the causes of many of the misconceptions of the exploration of our own origins. Often contrary and illuminating, Tattersall looks at how paleoanthropologists think and work and delves into several intellectual challenges faced by fellow scientists. He goes beyond the book’s anecdotal title to highlight the importance of being objective and examining evidence rather than relying on the subjective opinion of well-established experts.

Tattersall reviews controversial hypotheses along with eminent figures who have shaped our understanding of how we have emerged and evolved. 

Key Topics

  1. What is the nature of epistemology and scientific progress?
  2. What is the historical evolution of paleoanthropology?
  3. How do paleoanthropologists think and work?
  4. The uniqueness of humans and the lack of exception to Nature’s rules
  5. What is the nature of epistemology and scientific progress?
  6. What is the historical evolution of paleoanthropology?
  7. How do paleoanthropologists think and work?
  8. The uniqueness of humans and the lack of exception to Nature’s rules

Other Books by Author

  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image
  • Book Image