"In the following pages, we will present several phylogenies representing different and opposing views of hominid evolution. We suggest you do not attempt to memorize them, for they all could be out of date by the time you read this book." (pg. 456)

Third Edition, 1985 - Introduction to anthropology, evolution, heredity, genetics, population biology, environmental adaptability, taxonomy, primatology, behavioral ecology - and then the fun starts: Australopithecus afarensis, boisei, robustus, africanus, etc., and then Homo habilis, erectus, neandertalis, sapien, etc.. *Not necessarily in that order.

"...it may seem anthropologists have an almost perverse fascination in finding small scraps buried in the ground and then assigning them confusing numbers and taxonomic labels impossible to remember. We must realize that the collection of all basic fossil data is the foundation of human evolutionary research. Without fossils, our speculations would be completely hollow." (pg. 453)

It's not often I can pull out an old textbook and read it cover to cover (600+ pages) with considerable enthusiasm. Yes, some of the timelines need tweaking, and you'll find no mention of more recent discoveries like Homo floresiensis or Homo luzonensis, but this is still the fascinating and enlightening stuff that made me want to attend college in the first place. NOTE: You will NEVER hear me say that about calculus or macroeconomics.