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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1977)
(Continued from Page 7B) Origins Richard Leaky and Roger Lewin ($17.95, E.R. Dutton, cloth) 2 million year old human skull looks out, eyeless, at us, floating eerily over the Kenya veldt near where it was found. It is an imposing, uncompromising image that serves as the cover of this col laboration between scientist and science writer. In the tradition of Civilization and The Ascent of Man, Origins gives us a detailed, eminently readable (and illustrated!) ver sion of our common past. Richard Leaky, a pioneer anthropologist in the tradition of his parents Mary and Louis, gives us an up-to-date report of our place in time as seen from the fossil record, one that is becoming increasingly full. Against this vast expanse of Earth’s evolving life forms, Leaky and Lewin focus on the origins of intelligence, language and behavior in con text of the findings in the dust and rock. Our future possibilities, seen in such a perspec tive, come across as hard-edged and humane conjecture: “There is no law that declares the human species to be immortal. Unques tionably, mankind is special... Humans are the first animals capable of manipulat ing the global environment to a substantial degree ... We now have in our hands the engines of our own destruction.” And, con sequently, our own salvation, or something like it. The challenge posed by the past, by that ancient skull, seems a task far more fascinating than frightening. CARL SAGAN THE DRAGONS OF EDEN SJtCUl AlOVSON TH! tVUUiON Of HUMAN INTtU O NQ The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence Carl Sagan ($8.95, Random House, cloth) w V We are not alone, we hear these days. Carl Sagan has been telling us of that likelihood for some time. Here he is again, gracefully forcing us to confront our own terrestrial intelligence, its origins, its possible future paths. Granted, this book has been out long enought to be a bestseller, but what with Close Encounters headed our way, it seemed the thing to do. For some years now , Sagan and numerous biologists and astronomers and others have been labor ing to provide a viable theoretical context within which to consider the possibilities of communication with extraterrestrial intel ligence. Though a skeptic as concerns UFOs and the IkeShood of a face-to-face encounter, Sagan is convinced of the exis tence of Others Out There. (See his other books, like The Cosmic Connection and Other Worlds for more on this.) Right now, he seems equally concerned with Those Down Here. For he is also convinced of our urgent need to deal with, if not help direct, the recent rapid evolution of human intellig ence, and so here gives us an engaging speculative version of how it has come about. His information is up to date, and his writing is splendid to behold. In many ways, a scientific myth maker. Myths, he quotes the 4th century Salus ris, “are things which never happened, but always are." Indeed, and so he uses the dragon and Eden motifs of the title: metaphors of our story, our biology, our future. By Arthur C. Clarke ($8.95, Random House, cloth) M JL ¥ JKL y American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language describes “serendipity'' as “the faculty of making for tunate and unexpected discoveries by ac cident” which is what this book is about for both the writer and the reader. Clarke says in Chapter 1, "For the past 20 years, my life has been dominated by three S’s — Space, Serendip, and the Sea." This book is a series of essays, talks and private thoughts on those three sub jects and how they affected one of the most prolific (in many areas) and highly re garded writers of our time. Clarke shares with the reader some of his behind-the-scenes observations on the film 2001 (the book for which he wrote), his coverage of the Apollo moon shot for CBS, his testimony before the U S. Congress Committee of Space Science in 1975, and his exciting and rather convincing predic tions for the future. There are also delight ful glimpses of life in Ceylon, which was called Serendip in ancient times and is now known as Sri Lanka, which make it clear why, once settled there, Clarke has never wished to leave. And, somewhat unexpec tedly, there is an exciting account of diving for sunken treasure off the south coast of the island. X #r' . j- ■ ,. HELLS CANYON He lXvp« st (hjnjp n»i t jrHi *U»MH Hell’s Canyon: The Deepest Gorge on Earth William Ashworth ($9.95, Hawthorne, cloth) ^^^^oyote dug it out with a big stick one day in order to contain the Seven De vils in Idaho and keep them from devouring the inhabitants of the Blue Mountains. So said the Nez Perce Indians, at least. And that's but one of the stories William Ash worth tells. He knows others. The stones are of a place, some one hundred miles of the Snake River s canyon that is part of the Oregon-ldaho border Hell's Canyon, fully one-third of a mile deeper than the Grand Canyon at its deepest Site of two dozen species of veg etation found nowhere else on Earth, bom in geological and hydrological violence, locale of white water rapids, enormous fish, some 200 significant archaeological sites and potential source of an annual 2.85 million horsepower A place bound to generate stones, as well as some energe tic controversy. Here we have them all, a clear well documented chronicle leading up to the probably inevitable battle between con servationist and engineer That conflict ended in victory in Washington D C for the former scarcely three years ago, and is as intriguing a story as any of the older ones One imagines even old Coyote might be pleased at the outcome Reviews by Eric Wurzbacher (except View From Serendip by Bob Webb)/Graphic by Catherine Failor, Carlos Castaneda’s extraordinary journey into the world of sorcery has captivated millions of Americans. In his eagerly awaited new book, he takes the reader into a sorceric experience so intense, so terrifying, and so profoundly disturbing that it can only be described as a brilliant assault on the reason, the dramatic and frightening attack on every preconceived notion of life that is don Juan’s remarkable legacy to his apprentice. IK M 13th & Kincaid 686-4331 BOOKSTORE TRADEBOOK DEPARTMENT Drawing on the legacy of knowledge gathered by his parents, Louis and Mary Leakey, at Olduvai Gorge, Richard Leakey’s excavations at Lake Turkana in northern Kenya suggest that perhaps three or even more species of primitive hominoids existed simultaneously in the same geographic region millions of years ago. Why “our” line — Homo — survived while others vanished is the central ques tion of this pioneering and exciting study of human evolution. Equally important is what this new information tells us about humankind’s future as well as our early history. Open: Mon-Fri 8:15-5:30 Sat 10:00-2:00 In The Cosmic Connection, Dr Carl Sagan dramatized for the laymen the search for life beyond the Earth. Here in The Dragons of Eden, Sagan turns with the same lucidity and excitement to the equally fascinating inner world of the mind. In a breathtaking overview from prehistory to the present he explains how human beings evolved, genes and brains together; who our ancestors and their competitors were; how our brains and the brains of other animals work; and why other intelligent beings will be sufficiently like us intellectually to permit interstellar communication BAC Mastercharge Visa Cards are welcomed Contemporary Diamonds 4 diamonds highlight charming ring diamonds *9950 Unique designing with 3 shining diamonds *9950 /TV• from (he veru qiffer)jeweler 1/OHA Jewelers Keepsake Corner v Valley River Center 484-1303 / \ Daily 9 30-9 30 Sal and Sun 10-6 f
