Annal:1989 Aventis Prize for General Science Book

Bones of Contention: Controversies in the Search for Human Origins

Roger Lewin

• 1989 Aventis-General winner
• Score: 10.39

Bones of Contention is a behind-the-scenes look at the search for human origins. Analyzing how the biases and preconceptions of paleoanthropologists shaped their work, Roger Lewin’s detective stories about the discovery of Neanderthal Man, the Taung Child, Lucy, and other major fossils provide insight into this most subjective of scientific endeavors. The new afterword looks at ways in which paleoanthropology, while becoming more scientific in many ways, remains contentious.