Free eBook: The Art of Tracking: The Origin of Science
by Louis Liebenberg
In a work of painstaking and wide-ranging scholarship, backed up by fieldwork among the Kalahari hunter-gatherers, Louis Liebenberg explains how the art of tracking represents a crucial step in human evolution. Liebenberg examines the principles of tracking, and the classification and interpretation of spoor under difficult conditions. He also shows how the original speculative hypotheses of early hunter-gatherers have a direct line to the propositions of modern physicists who "track" sub-atomic particles. Liebenberg argues that the art of tracking involves the same intellectual and creative abilities as physics and mathematics, and may therefore represent the origin of science itself.
"A multi-disciplinary tour de fource... original, well-researched, clear on terminology, gives attention to detail, and makes for stimulating and enjoyable reading." South African Archaelological Bulletin
Clear and detailed illustrations of more than 110 animal tracks; 160 full colour photographs of animals and signs, and distribution maps; authoritative text, by an internationally noted expert, describing the spoor and signs left by each animal; and a compact, easy-to-use format; the ideal pocket-size bush companion.
This is the first comprehensive field guide to the animal tracks of southern Africa. In the first, introductory section, author Louis Liebenberg explains how to identify and interpret spoor, and how to master the basics of tracking.