Man on Earth

Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1988. Book of the Month Club Edition. Hardcover. Good/Good. John Reader (Photographer). Format is approximately 7.25 inches by 10 inches. 256 pages. Illustrations (color). Bibliography. Index. DJ has some wear, edge tease and soiling. Some edge soiling noted. This is Number Ten in The Corrie Herring Hooks Series. John Reader is a freelance photojournalist and author. He was a Time Inc., photographer covering Africa south of the Sahara for Life and Time, 1969-73. He was a member of the Royal Anthropological Institute (fellow) and the Royal Geographical Society (fellow). An interest in the natural sciences, especially ecology and anthropology, has been the motivation for much of Reader's magazine work and his books. Man on Earth addresses the adaptations which the various cultures of humankind have made to the locations where they live. Examples discussed include the Yapese people of the Pacific island of Yap, whose limited available space has led them to develop a culture of high birth control and high rates of homicide; also mentioned are the denizens of cities such as Cleveland, Ohio, as well as the lobster fishers who seek their harvest along the coasts of Maine. Washington Post Book World reviewer Edwards Park described the picture of Cleveland as "an outer ring of yuppie mansions,... a rubble-strewn downtown that reeks of ... desperation." Reader asserts that "time and again, the human capacity for ingenious adaptation has reached beyond prudence and civilization has foundered." Park states that the author "sees hopes" for humankind. The critic assessed his "handling of the differing pressures of life on his chosen exemplars" as "deft and entertaining." Human beings are the most adaptable animals in the world. We successfully occupy every corner of the globe, from the tundra to the rain forest, from the high Andes to the blazing Kalahari. Nearly hairless, small of tooth and weak of limb, we human beings have nevertheless made ourselves at home everywhere. The reason, explains John Reader in this provocative study of human ecology, is that humans uniquely possess the most effective adaptive mechanism of all: culture. Moving into all kinds of environments, human beings have devised sets of beliefs, rules, and technologies specifically designed to ensure survival in the face of whatever obstacles the land, the weather, and that particular environment raise. This timely and important book provides heartening evidence of the resourcefulness with which human beings, everywhere and at all times, have responded to the challenges that have faced man on earth.