Until the
tenacious.”
mans and chimpanzees.”
relatively recent advent of syntactic lan-
Ridley, a well-known British science
Early hominids largely looked and guage in modern humans, Mithen main-
writer, unfolds Crick’s life from its modest
acted like apes. With one key difference:
tains, it was music that helped hominids
beginnings on “a middle-class street in a
they stood and walked upright. This fi nd a mate, soothe a child, cheer a com-
middle-size town in the . . . English
change in posture and mobility had pro-
panion or provide a group’s social glue.
Mid lands” through his uninspired
found implications for our evolution
Like language, much of music does physics career (six years design-
and “may have initiated the greatest not fossilize. We have elegant bird-bone
ing mag netic mines for the Royal
musical revolution in human history.”
fl utes as old as 36,000 years from sites
Navy) to his sudden switch into
That is the ironic conclusion of Reading
in Germany and France—unequivocal biology at the age of 31, when
University archaeologist Steven Mithen,
musical instruments. Beyond that, one
“with the bravado of a bankrupt
who continues his search for the essence
is hard-pressed to display tangible evi-
gambler,” he tried to decide what
of human behavior in his latest book, dence of music’s role in prehuman soci-
he would solve fi rst, “the secret of
The Singing Neanderthals.
ety. Mithen must speculate that Nean-
the brain or the secret of life.” In a
Particularly within the past two mil-
dertals, for instance, strummed stalac-
stunning combi na tion of visual
lion years, early humans refined the tites, drummed on mammoth skulls or
and intel lectual imagination, he and James
ability to walk, run and jump. With big
otherwise made music without leaving Watson fi gured out the double helix of DNA,
brains and bottoms, spring-loaded legs,
a trace. But step inside a cave used by the secret of life. At age 60 he immigrated to
and sophisticated sensorimotor control,
prehistoric people, and it is easy to ap-
California and focused his logic and energy on
they could also dance, Mithen argues, if
preciate its acoustic potential. By draw-
the nature of consciousness. He died in 2004,
not sing.
ing data from a diverse range of disci-
at 88, still working on this second quest.
With a fascinating blend of neurol-
plines, Mithen makes a persuasive case
ogy, anatomy, archaeology, develop-
that our ancestors got rhythm and WALKING ZERO: DISCOVERING COSMIC
mental psychology and musicology, brings to prehistory a sense of sound.
SPACE AND TIME ALONG THE
Mithen seeks the source of our propen-
PRIME MERIDIAN
sity for making music, a universal human
Blake Edgar is a science editor and
by Chet Raymo. Walker & Company,
feature that has been strangely neglected
writer. He is co-author of From Lucy
2006 ($22.95)
compared with the origin of language.
to Language, forthcoming in a revised
The story of the prime meridian is in itself fas-
Darwin, naturally, touched on the topic,
edition from Simon & Schuster, and
cinating: in 1884 an international agreement
positing that unable to woo with words,
of The Dawn of Human Culture
fi xed a meridian of zero longitude and stan-
our ancestors “endeavored to charm each
(John Wiley & Sons, 2002).
dard time through southeast England. But
other with musical notes and rhythm.”
Raymo, a physicist and science writer who
Essential to both bipedal locomotion
THE EDITORS RECOMMEND wrote a popular weekly column for the Boston
and music, rhythm plays a pivotal role as
Globe, goes beyond this tale. He uses an actu-
well in language. Music and language FRANCIS CRICK: DISCOVERER OF
al walk along the meridian as a “thread on
share other intriguing attributes. Both THE GENETIC CODE
which to hang” a history of astronomy, geol-
can move or manipulate us. Both can be
by Matt Ridley. Atlas Books/HarperCollins,
ogy and paleontology. Stops at
spoken, written or gestured. Both possess
2006 ($19.95)
sites near the meridian include
hierarchical structure. And both seem to