{"title":"Christopher Seddon","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"humans-book-christopher-seddon-9780992762049","title":"Humans","description":"Every few months a discovery about the human past is announced that makes national or even international news. Humans: from the beginning will appeal to anybody who reads about these discoveries, is intrigued by them, and would like to know more about prehistory. Humans: from the beginning is a single-volume guide to the human past. Drawing upon expert literature and the latest multi-disciplinary research, this rigorous but accessible book traces the whole of the human story from the first apes to the first cities. The end product of five years of research, it has been brought fully up to date for 2015 and is now available for the first time as a paperback as well as a Kindle eBook. Humans: from the beginning is written for the non-specialist, but it is sufficiently comprehensive in scope, rigorous in content, and well-referenced to serve as an ideal 'one-stop' text not only for undergraduate students of relevant disciplines, but also to postgraduates, researchers and other academics seeking to broaden their knowledge. This 32-chapter work presents an even-handed coverage of topics including: -How climate change has long played a pivotal role in our affairs and those of our ancestors. -How humans evolved from apes at a time when the apes were facing extinction. -Why the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees (our closest living relatives) might have been more like a human than a chimpanzee. -A possible Asian rather than African origin for the earliest humans. -Why the Neanderthals were not the dimwits of popular imagination. -How language and modern human behaviour evolved: an examination of theories including those of Robin Dunbar, Steven Mithen and Derek Bickerton. -How the small group of modern humans that eventually colonised the whole of the non-African world might have started from Arabia rather than Africa. -David Lewis-Williams' theory that the cave art of Ice Age Europe was linked to a shamanistic belief system that might be rooted in the very architecture of the human brain. -Why the Neolithic transition from hunter-gathering to agriculture was a lengthy process, with many down sides. -Colin Renfrew's still-controversial theory that the spread of farming communities in Neolithic times was responsible for the languages now spoken in many parts of the world. -How an 'Urban Revolution' replaced egalitarian farming communities with socially-stratified kingdoms and city-states in just a few millennia. -How the complex, technological societies of today have much in common with not only the earliest states but much earlier primate societies.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49525850767633,"sku":"GOR012869029","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50369769144593,"sku":"CIN0992762049A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50737294180625,"sku":"GOR008926336","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51776895975697,"sku":"GOR014399648","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0992762049.jpg?v=1751140980"},{"product_id":"astronomy-book-christopher-seddon-9781916296428","title":"Astronomy","description":"The incredible story of how we learned about the Universe, from the earliest prehistoric observations to the first telescopes. Early astronomy ranks among the greatest achievements of the human intellect. But how did astronomers of the pre-telescopic era make accurate observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and predict their movements? And how can we uncover the ancient knowledge of societies that left few or no written records? The answers are in this fascinating book, which explores the history of astronomy, from prehistoric times to the Renaissance and the birth of modern science. Written by the author of a major guide to prehistory, it is even-handed, accessible, and avoids sensationalism. While aimed at the general reader, it is also fully referenced for students and academics.Among the topics discussed, you will discover: ★ Why some archaeologists believe that Stonehenge and other Neolithic stone monuments served astronomical functions ranging from lunar and solar markers to 'megalithic observatories', which tracked the movements of Sun and Moon with great precision.★ What evidence there is that present-day constellations including Taurus and Orion were depicted in Upper Palaeolithic cave art.★ How a 'void' zone in the star maps of the ancient world - corresponding to stars not visible from the Mediterranean - suggests that many constellations were devised by late Bronze Age sailors as an aid to navigation.★ How the early Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, and Maya civilisations all developed advanced astronomical methods, for needs ranging from the compilation of reliable calendars to the prediction of eclipses and other ominous celestial phenomena.★ How ancient Greek astronomers and mathematicians sought to explain as well as predict the movements of celestial bodies; and how their efforts culminated with Ptolemy's pivotal Almagest, which set out the 'Theory of Everything' of the ancient world.★ Why Islamic Golden Age scholars did far more than simply keep alive the ancient world's intellectual tradition during the medieval period; and how they refined it and laid the mathematical foundations for the Copernican revolution.★ How Copernicus demoted the earth from its place at the centre of the universe; and how Kepler, Galileo, and Newton went on to bring about an essentially modern understanding of the Solar System and the laws that govern it.CHRISTOPHER SEDDON is the author of Humans: from the Beginning, a unique andfully researched guide to our prehistoric past, spanning the vast interval of time from theemergence of the first apes to the rise of the first cities.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49548888506641,"sku":"GOR012050390","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51056500703505,"sku":"NIN9781916296428","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1916296424.jpg?v=1771324764"},{"product_id":"prehistoric-investigations-book-christopher-seddon-9780992762063","title":"Prehistoric Investigations","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow do you infer the existence of a hitherto-unknown human species from a fragmentary finger bone? Why do we walk on two legs? Were Neanderthals really dimwitted? How did a small, solitary predator become the world's most popular pet? What was the ancient link between languages spoken in places as far apart as Iceland and India?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e These are just some of the questions faced by those seeking to unravel the secrets of the vast period of time that predates the last six thousand years of 'recorded history'. In addition to fieldwork and traditional methods, paleoanthropologists and archaeologists now draw upon genetics and other cutting-edge scientific techniques.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In fifty chapters, Prehistoric Investigations tells the story of the many thought-provoking discoveries that have transformed our understanding of the distant past.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49562894205201,"sku":"CIN0992762065VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49594994524433,"sku":"GOR011859499","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50376360427793,"sku":"CIN0992762065G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0992762065.jpg?v=1750749426"},{"product_id":"humans-book-christopher-seddon-9780992762070","title":"Humans","description":"In just a few years, our understanding of the human past has changed beyond recognition as new discoveries and advances in genetic techniques overturn long-held beliefs and make international news.Drawing upon expert literature and the latest research, HUMANS: FROM THE BEGINNING is a rigorous but accessible guide to the human story, presenting an even-handed account of events from the first apes to the rise of the first cities and civilisations. Along the way, we learn about the emergence of modern human behaviour, prehistoric art, early modern human migrations from Africa, the peopling of the world, and how farming and agriculture replaced hunter-gathering. First published in 2014, HUMANS: FROM THE BEGINNING has been revised and updated for 2021, bringing it fully up to date with the latest developments.New finds include evidence that apelike hominids made stone tools; that small-brained Homo naledi lived alongside Homo sapiens in Africa; and that Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens all repeatedly interbred. There is also expanded coverage of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, with new chapters on the Mesolithic and later prehistory of Europe, the Minoans and Mycenaeans, and the Late Bronze Age collapse of Eastern Mediterranean civilisation. Other topics such as Neanderthal symbolic behaviour and the origin of the Indo-European languages are re-examined in the light of the latest evidence.HUMANS: FROM THE BEGINNING is written for the non-specialist, but it is sufficiently comprehensive and well-referenced to serve as an ideal 'one-stop' text not only for undergraduate students, but also for postgraduates, researchers, and other academics seeking to broaden their knowledge.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51011272409361,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51011275882769,"sku":"NIN9780992762070","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51820908577041,"sku":"CIN0992762073G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0992762073.jpg?v=1751077963"},{"product_id":"prehistoric-investigations-2-book-christopher-seddon-9781739251994","title":"Prehistoric Investigations 2","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51290993197329,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51290995065105,"sku":"NIN9781739251994","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1739251997.jpg?v=1751184497"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-christopher-seddon.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}