African Genesis:
A Personal Investigation Into the Animal Origins and nature of Man
by Robert Ardrey
Registration opens Jan. 16
On Thursday, Feb. 19, 4 p.m., join PC Reads' Nonfiction book review of African Genesis, by Robert Ardrey. In 1955 Ardrey travelled to Africa to examine the collection of the then-obscure paleontologist Raymond Dart. He saw, culled from a cave occupied by early humans, a collection of antelope jawbones perfect for sawing, and antelope forelegs perfect for clubbing. He saw the skull of a juvenile proto-human, apparently bashed in. A growing body of evidence suggested that man had evolved on the African continent from carnivorous, predatory stock, who had also, long before man, achieved the use of weapons.
An acclaimed dramatist, Ardrey's interest in the African discoveries sprang less from purely scientific grounds than from the radical new light they cast on the eternal question: Why do we behave as we do? Are we naturally inclined towards war and weapons? From 1955 to 1961, Ardrey commuted between the museums and libraries and laboratories of the North, and the games reserves and fossil beds of Africa trying to answer that question.
The result was African Genesis. In a sweeping work that encompasses the evolutionary roots of nationalism and patriotism, private property and social order, hierarchy and status-seeking, and even conscience, Ardrey tells a story of man never before heard, and redefines what exactly it means to be human.
Robert Ardrey was that rarity in Hollywood, a writer who beat Hollywood and its producers, moguls, and stars at their own game of amassing power, wealth, and respect. Equally comfortable dealing with literary editors such as Bennett Cerf or moguls like Darryl F. Zanuck, he also retained his credibility in the intellectual realm by authoring texts on anthropology, history, and sociology that remain widely respected decades after their publication.
African Genesis and Ardrey's subsequent books were massively popular and deeply controversial. They overturned core assumptions of the social sciences and led to a revolution in thinking about human nature. Fundamentally Ardrey argued that human behavior was not entirely socially determined, rather evolutionarily inherited instincts help determine behavior and format large-scale social phenomena. Subsequent science has largely vindicated his hypotheses.
Robert Ardrey is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the inaugural Sidney Howard Memorial Award, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and received an Academy Award Nomination for best screenplay for his film Khartoum. Time magazine named African Genesis the most notable book of the 1960s.
More information on Robert Ardrey is available at www.robertardrey.com
Registration is required. If you register and find that you are unable to attend, email registrar@lifelonglearningatpc.org so someone from the wait list can be contacted.
WAITLIST: If an the event is filled, be sure add your name to the waitlist by registering for the event.
One registration per LLL user account.
EVENT DATE/TIME: Thursday, Feb. 19, 4-5:30 p.m.
LOCATION: LLL CENTER
COST: No charge
MAXIMUM: 24