--- product_id: 19443813 title: "Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins" price: "€ 52.41" currency: EUR in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.nl/products/19443813-shaping-humanity-how-science-art-and-imagination-help-us-understand store_origin: NL region: Netherlands --- # Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins **Price:** € 52.41 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins - **How much does it cost?** € 52.41 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nl](https://www.desertcart.nl/products/19443813-shaping-humanity-how-science-art-and-imagination-help-us-understand) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description How an artist draws on fossil discoveries and forensic techniques to create transfixing reconstructions of long-lost human ancestors What did earlier humans really look like? What was life like for them, millions of years ago? How do we know? In this book, internationally renowned paleoartist John Gurche describes the extraordinary process by which he creates forensically accurate and hauntingly realistic representations of our ancient human ancestors. Inspired by a lifelong fascination with all things prehistoric, and gifted with a unique artistic vision, Gurche has studied fossil remains, comparative ape and human anatomy, and forensic reconstruction for over three decades. His artworks appear in world-class museums and publications ranging from National Geographic to the journal Science, and he is widely known for his contributions to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park and a number of acclaimed television specials. For the Smithsonian Institution’s groundbreaking David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins, opened in 2010, Gurche created fifteen sculptures representing six million years of human history. In Shaping Humanity he relates how he worked with a team of scientists to depict human evolution in sculpture for the new hall. He reveals the debates and brainstorming that surround these often controversial depictions, and along the way he enriches our awareness of the various paths of human evolution and humanity’s stunning uniqueness in the history of life on Earth. Review: Wow, very impressive. - One serendipitous result of me reviewing the book “Seven Skeletons,” which is about why some hominin specimens become cultural icons, was to become aware of the book “Shaping Humanity” by John Gurche, which was published in 2013. I used to think of John Gurche as one of the old-school paleoartists that specialize in painting dinosaurs, since most of the work I was familiar with is from before 1990. That is way too limiting. Gurche nowadays specializes in early humans, and he is also an amazing sculptor. “Shaping Humanity” describes how he constructed eight life-size sculptures based on specific hominin specimens. Most of these are in the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins: Sahelanthropus tchadenis, Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”), Australopithecus africanus (STS 5), Paranthropus boisei (OH 5), Homo erectus (“The Nariokoto Boy”), Homo neanderthalensis (La Ferrassie II), Homo floresiensis (“Flo”). Some of these sculptures are in silicone and are meant to give the illusion of a living creature, and some are cast in bronze. Any attempt to construct a life restoration of any extinct animal is a combination of interpreting the (usually fragmentary) fossils that are available and educated guess work based on related living animals. Fortunately, we understand the anatomy of living humans and apes fairly well, and it can be assumed the hominins will be an interpolation between the two. Some features can be extrapolation from the skeleton: barrel-chest (human) or funnel-chest (ape), projecting nose (human) or not (ape), etc. There are a number of fiddly details that need to be decided when the fossils can give no information: are the “whites” of the eyes pigmented (ape) or non-pigmented (humans). What size should the ears be? Since we are very familiar with living humans and apes, as opposed to, say, dinosaurs, these types of details matter and it is easy to generate something that looks wrong. The great strength of “Shaping Humanity” is that, in relating how these decisions are made, Gurche thoroughly reviews for the reader what is known about certain specimens, what has to be guessed at, and what is a purely artistic choice. Gurche approaches these sculptures in a very systematic way that takes many months to complete. Bones are reconstructed from cast fossils. After a pose is worked out, the reconstructed bones are arranged on a metal armature. Clay muscles are added to the bones, and finally clay skin with folds and wrinkles (and sometimes impressions of hair for bronze sculptures) is laid on top. A mold is made of the clay sculpture. A silicone cast can be made at this point for a lifelike sculpture. Glass eyes are added and hair is punched into the silicon. Bronze sculptures require a second step, a cast is made in wax, and another heavier mold is made from the wax cast. Bronze is poured into the heavy mold, burning off the wax. In the previous paragraph, I glossed over the pose. Apparently as much thinking goes into picking an evocative pose as any of the anatomical details. The idea is to distill in the pose something characteristic about the hominin in question but make the pose look entirely natural: Lucy stepping down from a branch (a transition from climbing to walking), a Homo erectus woman carrying an antelope carcass (this species travels a log), a Neanderthal woman scraping a skin (showing the use of teeth as tools), etc. No one can deny that the poses chosen are brilliantly chosen and executed. Finally, all the sculptures, silicone or bronze, appear extremely realistic. Your mind says: Yes, that’s exactly what that animal should be, and it is an individual “person”. The silicon restorations are amazing lifelike, even a little disturbing. Gurche puts it this way: “If people react to your sculptures by feeling a little creeped out because they sense a living presence there, you know you’ve done well.” “Shaping Humanity” is a coffee table book in the best sense; it is full of extremely well done illustrations: photographs of original fossil specimens, sketches, photos of sculptures in various stages of completion. Get rid of all the text, and it still would be worth looking at. Since this title is a few years old, one can get it at bargain prices on desertcart as a used book. Well worth it. Review: Contemplative, relatable, and empathetic. A great mix of science, art, and storytelling. - In 2014 I met the author and had the pleasure of traveling with him for a couple of hours. Our conversation was as pleasurable, varied, and enlightening as one might expect after reading this fantastic book. Gurche's contemplative, relatable narrative leads the reader through humanity's ancestry with appropriate amounts of anthropological history, artistic technicality, and the empathy that is immortalized in his sculptures. As a biologist with a strong training in anthropology, I was engrossed with the detailed technical descriptions Gurche provides. However, lay audiences need not fear. Skimming over the technical details does not subtract from the overall lessons provided by the wraparound narrative. Gurche succeeds in his aspiration to reach levels of clear popular scientific communication in the mold of Sagan, and Tyson ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #495,456 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #122 in Sculpture Appreciation #127 in Biology of Fossils #579 in Anatomy (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 55 Reviews | ## Images ![Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71u5iF6FL9L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wow, very impressive. *by E***S on September 5, 2017* One serendipitous result of me reviewing the book “Seven Skeletons,” which is about why some hominin specimens become cultural icons, was to become aware of the book “Shaping Humanity” by John Gurche, which was published in 2013. I used to think of John Gurche as one of the old-school paleoartists that specialize in painting dinosaurs, since most of the work I was familiar with is from before 1990. That is way too limiting. Gurche nowadays specializes in early humans, and he is also an amazing sculptor. “Shaping Humanity” describes how he constructed eight life-size sculptures based on specific hominin specimens. Most of these are in the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins: Sahelanthropus tchadenis, Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”), Australopithecus africanus (STS 5), Paranthropus boisei (OH 5), Homo erectus (“The Nariokoto Boy”), Homo neanderthalensis (La Ferrassie II), Homo floresiensis (“Flo”). Some of these sculptures are in silicone and are meant to give the illusion of a living creature, and some are cast in bronze. Any attempt to construct a life restoration of any extinct animal is a combination of interpreting the (usually fragmentary) fossils that are available and educated guess work based on related living animals. Fortunately, we understand the anatomy of living humans and apes fairly well, and it can be assumed the hominins will be an interpolation between the two. Some features can be extrapolation from the skeleton: barrel-chest (human) or funnel-chest (ape), projecting nose (human) or not (ape), etc. There are a number of fiddly details that need to be decided when the fossils can give no information: are the “whites” of the eyes pigmented (ape) or non-pigmented (humans). What size should the ears be? Since we are very familiar with living humans and apes, as opposed to, say, dinosaurs, these types of details matter and it is easy to generate something that looks wrong. The great strength of “Shaping Humanity” is that, in relating how these decisions are made, Gurche thoroughly reviews for the reader what is known about certain specimens, what has to be guessed at, and what is a purely artistic choice. Gurche approaches these sculptures in a very systematic way that takes many months to complete. Bones are reconstructed from cast fossils. After a pose is worked out, the reconstructed bones are arranged on a metal armature. Clay muscles are added to the bones, and finally clay skin with folds and wrinkles (and sometimes impressions of hair for bronze sculptures) is laid on top. A mold is made of the clay sculpture. A silicone cast can be made at this point for a lifelike sculpture. Glass eyes are added and hair is punched into the silicon. Bronze sculptures require a second step, a cast is made in wax, and another heavier mold is made from the wax cast. Bronze is poured into the heavy mold, burning off the wax. In the previous paragraph, I glossed over the pose. Apparently as much thinking goes into picking an evocative pose as any of the anatomical details. The idea is to distill in the pose something characteristic about the hominin in question but make the pose look entirely natural: Lucy stepping down from a branch (a transition from climbing to walking), a Homo erectus woman carrying an antelope carcass (this species travels a log), a Neanderthal woman scraping a skin (showing the use of teeth as tools), etc. No one can deny that the poses chosen are brilliantly chosen and executed. Finally, all the sculptures, silicone or bronze, appear extremely realistic. Your mind says: Yes, that’s exactly what that animal should be, and it is an individual “person”. The silicon restorations are amazing lifelike, even a little disturbing. Gurche puts it this way: “If people react to your sculptures by feeling a little creeped out because they sense a living presence there, you know you’ve done well.” “Shaping Humanity” is a coffee table book in the best sense; it is full of extremely well done illustrations: photographs of original fossil specimens, sketches, photos of sculptures in various stages of completion. Get rid of all the text, and it still would be worth looking at. Since this title is a few years old, one can get it at bargain prices on Amazon as a used book. Well worth it. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Contemplative, relatable, and empathetic. A great mix of science, art, and storytelling. *by K***D on February 16, 2020* In 2014 I met the author and had the pleasure of traveling with him for a couple of hours. Our conversation was as pleasurable, varied, and enlightening as one might expect after reading this fantastic book. Gurche's contemplative, relatable narrative leads the reader through humanity's ancestry with appropriate amounts of anthropological history, artistic technicality, and the empathy that is immortalized in his sculptures. As a biologist with a strong training in anthropology, I was engrossed with the detailed technical descriptions Gurche provides. However, lay audiences need not fear. Skimming over the technical details does not subtract from the overall lessons provided by the wraparound narrative. Gurche succeeds in his aspiration to reach levels of clear popular scientific communication in the mold of Sagan, and Tyson ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bringing ancestral humans to life *by G***M on January 9, 2014* This review will be a little premature as I have not completed reading it. I have looked at all the amazing artwork and have been impressed so far with the way Gurche explains his passion for the field and how he goes about integrating scientific discovery with artistic interpretation. I've always admired Gurche's artwork and followed his career while he was at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I was sorry to hear in his narrative that the reconstruction he did of "Lucy" for DMNS "melted" because of his choice of sculpting material. I look forward to someday seeing the Smithsonian exhibit on human evolution. I may add something to this narrative when I complete the book. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nl/products/19443813-shaping-humanity-how-science-art-and-imagination-help-us-understand](https://www.desertcart.nl/products/19443813-shaping-humanity-how-science-art-and-imagination-help-us-understand) --- *Product available on Desertcart Netherlands* *Store origin: NL* *Last updated: 2026-10-09*