Summary of Christopher Knight & Alan Butler's Civilization One

Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The first wheels were used for turning clay pots and were later attached to axles to improve the efficiency of moving across dry ground for agriculture and warfare. The first great breakthrough in communication happened nearly two million years earlier when our distant ancestors developed a larynx position lower in the throat than other primates. #2 The intelligence of Palaeolithic Man was not surprising, as he has not changed significantly as a species for well over 100,000 years. We must also remember that while most of us have lives that have been shaped by the technological revolution, there are some groups of people around the world who still live as simple hunter-gatherers in a genuinely Stone Age existence. #3 The first form of writing that is generally accepted as such emerged more or less at the same time as the wheel. The Egyptians developed their earliest hieroglyphic system very shortly afterwards, just when Upper and Lower Egypt were united into a single kingdom. #4 The principle that underlies standard academia today is called stepping stone logic. It encourages deductive reasoning, but it can blind the researcher to factors that are outside their expectations.