Our understanding of human origins has been revolutionised by new discoveries in the past two decades. In The Science of Human Origins, three leading paleoanthropologists and physical scientists illuminate, in friendly, accessible language, the amazing findings behind the latest theories. They describe new scientific and technical tools for dating, DNA analysis, remote survey, and paleoenvironmental assessment that enabled recent breakthroughs in research. They also explain the early development of the modern human cortex, the evolution of symbolic language and complex tools, and our strange cousins from Flores and Denisova.
Claudio Tuniz is a world-renowned expert in geochronology using particle accelerators. He is Assistant Director of UNESCO's International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, where he promotes the use of atomic and nuclear physics in palaeoanthropology. He was director of the accelerator dating center at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization and has published widely on Australian prehistory.
Giorgio Manzi teaches paleoanthropology at the Sapienza University of Rome, where he directs the Museum of Anthropology "Giuseppe Sergi."
David Caramelli is a professor of anthropology at the University of Florence and directs the Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology and Paleogenetics.