1. HUMAN EVOLUTION Who We Are and How We Got That Way Donald L. Wolberg, Ph.D.

2. This is a course about a unique group of animals. This is a course about that animal’s origins and adaptations. This is a course about a group of animals that has viewed itself as being one step from the divine and different from all other living things on this planet. This is a course about a group of animals that developed technology and communication and has reached out to explore other worlds but has also developed the capacity to destroy its own world and itself.

6. This course is about us, human kind, people. The fact that an animal species is able to describe itself in such terms, as well as contemplate its origins, relationships to other living things, is absolutely unique in the 4.5 billion year history of this planet and the solar system of which it is a part. Indeed, in so far as we know, ours is the only organism ever to consider the origin and fate of the universe. Pompous as the course title may seem, in the brief time we have together, we will explore no less a topic than HUMAN EVOLUTION

7. The course will consist of a series of illustrated lectures (each of which will be brilliantly presented) There is no required textbook but readings will be assigned and sent to each of you to read and understand There will be two major tests, a Midterm and a Final, each “a do at home”, and a brief paper with topics to be provided. The Midterm and Final are each worth 30 points, the paper 20 points Additionally, there will be an occasional whimsical exercise, in sum worth another 20 points

8. Your instructor for this course is the one With the smaller teeth

10. SOME BASICS

11. The Very, Very Big and Very, Very Small

12. Humans are PRIMATES Five toes on each foot Five fingers on each hand Flat fingernails and toenails; not claws Opposable thumbs for grasping and manipulation Large, forward facing eyes Color vision Sociability and likely to live in groups

15. OURS IS A TERTIARY HISTORY