When English-speaking writers refer to the passage of the foetus down the birth canal, they use the word ‘travel’, and this is what the title of this book refers to: an especially difficult journey in our species, which culminates with the arrival of a new person in the world. This astonishing journey allows us to surmount many of the difficulties of the human species because the strange way in which we are born is not an anecdote but rather is intimately linked to our nature.
Why is birth painful? How did our ancestors give birth? Why are new-born babies so defenceless? Like a guide to a great exhibition, Juan Luis Arsuaga accompanies us in El primer viaje de nuestra vida through the fascinating human evolution adventure by way of a history of birth, and gives us a brilliant anatomy lesson along the way. And while he provides answers to these and other questions, he also asks others that are still unknown. There is still much to learn about the most important journey of our lives.
«Nothing is more common than being born, and nothing more extraordinary: Juan Luis Arsuaga has narrated this incredible first journey of human life with all the power of the great tales of travel and discovery, with his dual talent as storyteller and scientist.» Antonio Muñoz Molina
When English-speaking writers refer to the passage of the foetus down the birth canal, they use the word ‘travel’, and this is what the title of this book refers to: an especially difficult journey in our species, which culminates with the arrival of a new person in the world. This astonishing journey allows us to surmount many of the difficulties of the human species because the strange way in which we are born is not an anecdote but rather is intimately linked to our nature.
Why is birth painful? How did our ancestors give birth? Why are new-born babies so defenceless? Like a guide to a great exhibition, Juan Luis Arsuaga accompanies us in El primer viaje de nuestra vida through the fascinating human evolution adventure by way of a history of birth, and gives us a brilliant anatomy lesson along the way. And while he provides answers to these and other questions, he also asks others that are still unknown. There is still much to learn about the most important journey of our lives.
«Nothing is more common than being born, and nothing more extraordinary: Juan Luis Arsuaga has narrated this incredible first journey of human life with all the power of the great tales of travel and discovery, with his dual talent as storyteller and scientist.» Antonio Muñoz Molina
Consciousness Told From A Sapiens To A Neanderthal | Alfaguara, 2024
On the Other Side of the Fog | Destino/Planeta, 2024; Suma/PRH, 2005
Our Body: Seven Million Years of Evolution | Destino/Planeta, 2023
Death Told By A Sapiens To A Neanderthal | Alfaguara/PRH, 2022
Life Told By A Sapiens To A Neanderthal | Alfaguara/PRH, 2020
Life, the Great Story | Destino/Planeta, 2019
Amalur. The Atom in the Mind | Destino/Planeta, 2019
The Neanderthal’s Necklace | Destino, 2019 / Temas de Hoy, 1999
The Chosen Species | Destino, 2019 / Temas de Hoy, 1997
The Human Signature | Debate/Planeta, 2013
A Brief History of Earth | Temas de hoy, 2010
Mr. Darwin's Clock | Temas de Hoy/Planeta, 2009
My First Prehistory Book. When the World Was Just a Child | Espasa, 2008
The Human Saga | Edaf, 2007
On the Other Side of the Fog | Suma/PRH, 2005
The World of Atapuerca | Plaza & Janés/PRH, 2004
The Aborigines. Feeding and Human Evolution | RBA, 2002
The Sphinx Enigma | Plaza & Janés/PRH, 2001