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Human Evolution

Marjorie C. Meehan, MD

JAMA. 1970;212(1):132.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

When some unusual bones, almost but not quite those of modern man, were found in the Neanderthal, near Düsseldorf, a few investigators believed them to be from an extinct type of human. But this was 1856 and few people, even scientists, were willing to consider that the human race did not start with Adam. Various explanations of the bones were offered—eg, they were from an idiot with rickets and a bad disposition —the flat forehead and heavy brows were caused by blows to the head.

Three years later, Darwin's Origin of Species appeared and the controversy about evolution exploded. By the time most scientists accepted the concept of evolution, other ancient bones resembling those from Neanderthal were found elsewhere and Neanderthal man was accepted as one of our predecessors.

Darwin's view, popularly interpreted as "we were descended from monkeys," led to the search for "the missing link" between monkey and . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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