General Synopsis of the five-part Adventure Series reveals that the flow of hominid evolution has always been episodic rather than gradual. Due to some unpredictable perturbations in the global climate, during the late Pliocene, the African landmass witnessed a dramatic shrinkage of habitable woodlands, which induced the early humans living there to adapt or face extinction. The record shows that they not only succeeded but also flourished, by displaying true innovation, superior cognitive skills and an imaginative manipulation of their habitat. physical adaptations that are unfortunately no longer found in any primate species living today. They were neither as talented in the trees as the great apes nor as facile on terra firma as us humans. fossil evidence, there are many ways to be a hominid and that our way is just one of them. As pointed out earlier, the hominid evolutionary history has not been one of gradual continuous improvement but quite sporadic at best throughout the past four million years. represent just one of the many twigs on the prickly bush of hominid evolution. We are definitely not the sole occupants of a pedestal, which all other primates have aspired to but failed to reach.

In this action-packed series, spanning five episodes, Zak and his cronies along with world-class scholars of the Life Sciences strive to identify, describe and understand the intricacies of human evolution by scrutinizing every fragment of fossilized evidence. Each science-based narrative reads like an adventure as the team travels to exotic locales around the globe, seeking to dispel the lingering pre-Darwinian belief in some uninformed circles that the complex interrelationships of various organisms reveal the 'intelligent design' of divine creation. Their basic premise is that due to the onset of the Ice Ages about three million years ago, the African landmass witnessed a dramatic shrinkage of habitable woodlands. This induced the early humans living there to adapt quickly or face extinction. As a result, they began to acquire physical characteristics, which made them neither as talented up in the trees as the great apes nor as facile on terra firma as us, modern humans. Over the next two million years, several other bipedal hominid forms arose, not all of whom survived. Each underwent countless rounds of physical adaptation and change as their bodies continued to be honed by the relentless process of natural selection. Consequently, our remotest ancestors essentially became neither apes nor human but a curious 'blend' of both. Thus we, as Homo sapiens, despite our remarkable cognitive abilities, merely represent just one of the many twigs on the prickly bush of hominid evolution. Contrary to popular opinion, humans are not the sole occupants of that lofty pedestal of biological perfection that all other primates have aspired to, but failed to reach.

In this riveting third episode of the five-part Hominid series, Dr. Brelvi delves into the pre-verbal world of our early ancestors living 2.2 million years ago. Zak and friends, along with Dr. Abu Baqr, an intrepid Arab paleontologist from Khartoum, explore the wild Sudd swamps of southeastern Sudan. Over the span of ten action-packed days, the team explores the exotic tribal culture of the Masakin Tiwal dwelling today in the Nuba Mountains; clamber up the acrid slopes of Kinyeti, a dormant volcano inhabited by vicious baboons; uncover a trail of human-like footprints left behind by an ancestral human family; witness a violent encounter between two rival clans of Zimba Headhunters and navigate the turbid waters of a croc-infested swamp encircling a freshwater lake choked full of papyrus reeds. Throughout the narrative, Dr. Brelvi flits back and forth between the daily hazards of hominid existence in the dim reaches of pre-history and the potentially fatal dangers lurking in the murky swamps of Lotagipi for Zak and his team as they blaze an intriguing trail through human anthropology.

Dr. Brelvi, a SUNY: Optometry graduate and an 18-year veteran of Clinical Optometry, throws down the gauntlet to the next generation of Vision Therapy clinicians, not only in the US but also around the world. He challenges them to adopt a much-needed optometric model in the Cognitive Neurosciences, in order to effectively address the burgeoning fields of Autism, various Neurological Dysfunctions and Learning Disabilities. According to Dr. Brelvi, the frontiers of scientific discovery are defined as much by the tools available for clinical observation and monitoring as by conceptual innovation. Optometrists or Optometric physicians have historically studied the visual system in toto to understand the subtle nuances associated with a spectrum of learning disabilities. Dr. Brelvi feels that the time is now ripe for Optometry to broaden its scientific horizons and venture into the Cognitive realm of neurological dysfunctions. By introducing the new discipline of Cognitive Optometry, Dr. Brelvi envisions fellow clinicians to recognize the key role played by the visual system in the complex process of cognition, which gives rise to the gift of sentience in modern Homo sapiens. In his view, what marks Cognitive Optometry as an emerging discipline in the Neuro-Clinical Sciences is the study of anomalous mental activity as a visual information-processing problem. It rests on the premise that our perceptions, thoughts and social behavior depend on the ability of the visual system to evaluate and collate sensory information correctly. Perceptual representations taking place in various regions of the brain need to be translated into successful goal-oriented behavior in afflicted patients tohelp lead more productive and rewarding lifestyles.

In this action-packed series, spanning five episodes, Zak and his cronies along with world-class scholars of the Life Sciences strive to identify, describe and understand the intricacies of human evolution by scrutinizing every fragment of fossilized evidence. Each science-based narrative reads like an adventure as the team travels to exotic locales around the globe, seeking to dispel the lingering pre-Darwinian belief in some uninformed circles that the complex interrelationships of various organisms reveal the 'intelligent design' of divine creation. Their basic premise is that due to the onset of the Ice Ages about three million years ago, the African landmass witnessed a dramatic shrinkage of habitable woodlands. This induced the early humans living there to adapt quickly or face extinction. As a result, they began to acquire physical characteristics, which made them neither as talented up in the trees as the great apes nor as facile on terra firma as us, modern humans. Over the next two million years, several other bipedal hominid forms arose, not all of whom survived. Each underwent countless rounds of physical adaptation and change as their bodies continued to be honed by the relentless process of natural selection. Consequently, our remotest ancestors essentially became neither apes nor human but a curious 'blend' of both. Thus we, as Homo sapiens, despite our remarkable cognitive abilities, merely represent just one of the many twigs on the prickly bush of hominid evolution. Contrary to popular opinion, humans are not the sole occupants of that lofty pedestal of biological perfection that all other primates have aspired to, but failed to reach.

General Synopsis of the five-part Adventure Series reveals that the flow of hominid evolution has always been episodic rather than gradual. Due to some unpredictable perturbations in the global climate, during the late Pliocene, the African landmass witnessed a dramatic shrinkage of habitable woodlands, which induced the early humans living there to adapt or face extinction. The record shows that they not only succeeded but also flourished, by displaying true innovation, superior cognitive skills and an imaginative manipulation of their habitat. physical adaptations that are unfortunately no longer found in any primate species living today. They were neither as talented in the trees as the great apes nor as facile on terra firma as us humans. fossil evidence, there are many ways to be a hominid and that our way is just one of them. As pointed out earlier, the hominid evolutionary history has not been one of gradual continuous improvement but quite sporadic at best throughout the past four million years. represent just one of the many twigs on the prickly bush of hominid evolution. We are definitely not the sole occupants of a pedestal, which all other primates have aspired to but failed to reach.