It's hard to imagine the study of human origins without the Leakey
family. Three generations of Leakeys have scratched in the baked,
unfriendly soil of East Africa to unearth fossil evidence of the
earliest humans and their ancient ancestors. In the process they
have practically defined the field of paleoanthropology, while
eliciting admiration as well as controversies and criticism. In
this engrossing biography, prolific writer and educator Mary
Bowman-Kruhm tells the story of three generations of Leakeys.
Beginning with patriarch Louis Leakey, a native of Kenya, she
describes how he turned his boyhood love of exploring the Kenyan
countryside into a scientific profession that eventually garnered
international recognition. As the author shows, Leakey struggled in
the early years, often barely able to make a living. The end of
World War II, a trip to Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, and an
injection of money from a benefactor led to the discovery of
Proconsul africanus, an 18-million-year-old skull that was a
precursor to both later evolving apes and humans. Then Leakey and
his wife, Mary, discovered fragments of what came to be known as
Paranthropus boisei, which lived about 1.75 million years ago.
These findings brought the Leakeys great attention and important
funding from the National Geographic Society.
Bowman-Kruhm intersperses her discussion of the Leakeys' important
scientific contributions with interesting asides about their
personal life: from the trying 1950s when the Mau Mau revolt in
Kenya threatened all of their lives; through Louis's interest in
young proteges, including Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey; to the
rocky relationship between the Leakeys and Donald Johanson, the
discoverer of "Lucy."
By the time of Louis's death in 1972, Mary and their son Richard
were making dramatic finds on their own. When Richard discovered a
rich cache of fossils in northern Kenya, he soon attained a level
of acclaim to rival his father and mother's. Eventually, he turned
his attention to fighting for the cause of wildlife conservation, a
passion that he continues to the present. Today, the paleontology
work of the Leakey family continues, carried on mainly by Meave,
Richard's wife, and their daughter, Louise, at Koobi Fora in
northern Kenya. They regularly report the results of their research
at the Koobi Fora Research Project Web site (www.kfrp.com).
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