Who Ate the First Oyster?

March 9, 2020
Science writer Cassidy (And Then You’re Dead) profiles prehistoric milestones and the individuals responsible for them in this illuminating and entertaining survey. Interviewing experts across a variety of fields, Cassidy details plausible scenarios for the first bow and arrow, the discovery of the Americas, the first beer, the first case of smallpox, and the first joke, among other turning points, and sketches the anonymous originators’ probable backgrounds and the causes and effects of their contribution to human history. The ancient hominin mother who invented the baby sling three million years ago, Cassidy writes, “removed the evolutionary governor” on human intelligence by allowing helpless infants more time to develop synapses in their brains. The rise of agriculture in Neolithic Europe led to income inequality and specialization, which in turn granted the first surgeon (Cassidy names him “Dr. Zero”) the authority to cut into a man’s skull to relieve pressure from a head injury. The Polynesian who first set foot on Hawaii 1,500 years ago sailed an 80-foot “double-hulled catamaran” and had the equivalent of a PhD in astronomy. Cassidy humanizes prehistory with wit and a firm grasp of the science behind these anthropological case studies. Enthralled readers will develop a new appreciation for the ancient past.

March 15, 2020
Pop archaeology about individuals responsible for a series of significant firsts. "I set out to find out about not just humankind's ancient firsts, but also about the people who accomplished them," writes Cassidy. "This is a book about who these people were. What they did. And why it mattered." It is a book about individual achievement during the long period of prehistory, before writing attached names or histories to the individuals who accomplished these firsts. In each entry, Cassidy, whose previous book, And Then You're Dead, examined the science behind numerous outlandish ways to die, assigns a name to each individual and provides description and a story based on scientific research. Some of the subjects include the inventions of fire and clothing; the discoveries of soap, the Americas, and Hawaii; the first case of smallpox; and "the murderer in the first murder mystery." Regarding the invention of clothing, Cassidy pays tribute to the person "who ended the million-year streak of nudity. I'll call him Ralph, after Ralph Lauren, because the evidence suggests that when our Ralph made his insight, he was interested in fashion as much as function. (And I'll call him a him because in truth, I don't know. I flipped a coin.)" So, we're really not that much closer to knowing who specifically invented clothes or whether it is even possible to give such individual credit. What is interesting in the research has more to do with the why and how than the individual involved. Throughout these chapters, the subjects of which may strike readers as random, whoever did it remains a matter of speculation, but the significance of the legacy that followed is a story worth telling. The "Sources and Further Reading" section will prove helpful for readers seeking deeper dives into the various subjects. A breezy read through millennia of human development.

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