Primate Evolution (65 - 5 mya)

Upright posture is the surprise, the difficult event, the rapid and fundamental reconstruction of our anatomy. The subsequent enlargement of our brain is, in anatomical terms, a secondary epiphenomenon, an easy transformation embedded in a general pattern of human evolution. As a pure problem in architectural reconstruction, upright posture is far-reaching and fundamental, an enlarged brain superficial and secondary. But the effect of our large brain has far outstripped the relative ease of its construction. (From "Our Greatest Evolutionary Step," in The Panda's Thumb. [London: Penguin, 1980])

Hominid Evolution Major Homo advances: Brain size Better bipedalism Hunting Fire (H. erectus) Tools Oldowon (H. habilis) Acheulean (H. erectus) Mousterian (H. heidelbergensis) Solutrean (H. sapiens) Built shelters (H. heidelbergensis) Clothing (H. neandertalensis) Language (Neandertals?)

Evolution of Bipedalism Anatomical changes Neck (1), chest (2), lower back (3), hips and pelvis (4), thighs (5), knees (6), feet (7) Theories Tool use and bipedalism (Darwin/Washburn) Energy efficiency and bipedalism (Isbell/Young) Body temperature and bipedalism (Wheeler) Radiator theory (Falk) Habitat variability and bipedalism (Potts) Reproduction and bipedalism (Lovejoy) Canine reduction and bipedalism (Jolly) (Click for interactive skeleton)

La Cathedrale (The Cathedral) by Rodin - Musee Rodin, Paris                                                                                                                                         La Cathedrale   13-1/2" H Bonded White Marble $265 (less Internet discount of $30) = $235 (freight $19)                                                                                                                                               Rodin was a highly original sculptural genius but he openly acknowledged his indebtedness to the artists who had preceded him; the masters of ancient Greece and The Renaissance; Phidias, Donatello, Michelangelo. He was also intensely interested in Gothic art, the cathedrals of France. After viewing and studying the Magnificent cathedral at Amiens he felt that the basic inspiration came from the voices of nature, from the trees with their strong limbs reaching upward. In the two right hands with fingers arching together he probably thought that he had discovered the source and inspiration for the gothic arch, that arch which with repetition and expansion led to the creation of the superb gothic cathedrals. The hands are obviously those of separate individuals. A spiritual communication between the two is expressed but the fingers and hands remain slightly separated. Could he, through that separation, have been expressing the aloneness of all human beings, the desire for a complete unification which is never realized? 33.6404E