New Summer Special on The History Channel

New Summer Special on The History Channel

Finding the Secrets to the Roots of Man

APE TO MAN on THE HISTORY CHANNEL(R)

Premieres August 7, 2005 at 9-11pm ET/PT

LOS ANGELES, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- It has long been considered the most compelling question in our history: Where do human beings come from? Although life has existed for millions of years, only in the past century-and-a-half have we begun to use science to explore the ancestral roots of our own species. The search for the ultimate answer has taken a number of twists and turns, with careers made and broken along the way. APE TO MAN is the story of the quest to find the origins of the human race -- a quest that spanned more than 150 years of obsessive searching. APE TO MAN is a world premiere on The History Channel on August 7 at 9-11 pm ET/PT.

The search for the origins of humanity is a story of bones and the tales they tell. It was in 1856 that the first bones of an extinct human ancestor were encountered, unearthed by a crew of unskilled laborers digging for limestone in Western Europe. The find, which would be known as Neanderthal Man, was seeing the light of day for the first time in more than 40,000 years. At the time, the concept of a previous human species was virtually unthinkable. Yet just a few years later, Charles Darwin's work The Origin of Species first broached the subject of evolution, and by the end of the nineteenth century, it had become the hottest topic of the age. Adventurers had embarked on the search for the Missing Link, the single creature that represented the evolutionary leap from apes to humans. APE TO MAN examines the major discoveries that have led us to the understanding we have today, including theories that never gained full acceptance in their time, an elaborate hoax that confused the scientific community for years, and the ultimate understanding of the key elements that separate man from apes.

Extensive art is available for this program -- please visit our press site at http://www.historychannelpress.com/ to download images.

Highlights of APE TO MAN include:

* Reenactments of the work of Eugene DuBois, an Amsterdam physician who
left his practice in 1890 in search of the Missing Link and found what
would be called Homo erectus, a 500,000-year old ape-like skeleton, in
Sumatra. DuBois' assertion that he has found the Missing Link results
in his rejection by the scientific community. Only later did people
realize the impact of the discovery.

* Examination of the key elements that marked the evolution from ape to
man, including the ability to walk upright, the use of tools, the
harnessing of fire, the ability to form communities, and the ability to
reason and plan.

* The story of Piltdown Man, a skeleton discovered in England in 1912
which was, for a time, considered by many to be the definitive Missing
Link, but later discovered to be one of the greatest hoaxes in the
history of science.

* Raymond Dart's 1924 discovery of Taung Child, a fossilized skull of a
child in Africa that is nearly two million years old. It was the oldest
finding to date, but was completely ignored by the scientific community
because people still believed in the erroneous story of Piltdown Man.

Two key shifts in thinking led to our understanding today -- the shift to Africa as the birthplace of the human species; and the shift from thinking that brain size was the driving force of evolution, to the understanding that the use of tools was really the key step.

Executive Producer for The History Channel is Marc Etkind. APE TO MAN is produced by Lion Television for The History Channel. Executive Producer is Bill Locke. Producer is Anna Thomson. Director is Nic Young.

Now reaching more than 88 million Nielsen subscribers, The History Channel(R), "Where the Past Comes Alive(R)," brings history to life in a powerful manner and provides an inviting place where people experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past. In 2004, The History Channel earned five News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and previously received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's "Save Our History(R)" campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The network received its second Peabody Award in 2005. The History Channel web site is located at http://www.historychannel.com/. Press Only: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at http://www.historychannelpress.com/.

APE TO MAN
interviewees (in order of appearance)

PROFESSOR LESLIE AIELLO

Until recently (and at the time the interview was recorded) Professor Leslie Aiello was Head of the Graduate School at University College London. She has a PhD in Anatomy from the University of London, and her general interests are in functional anatomy, comparative morphology and allometry, and the broader issues of evolutionary theory, life history and the evolution of the brain and cognition. Current research includes postcranial evolution and adaptation of the Plio-Pleistocene hominids. She is one of the managing directors of the Journal of Human Evolution, and has recently taken up the post of President, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research in New York City. Publications include An Introduction to Human Evolutionary Anatomy, which she wrote with Christopher Dean.

DR. JOE CAIN, FLS, FZSL

Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Biology at University College London.

His current research interests include the history of evolutionary studies, history of American science, and science's research infrastructure. His biographical interest includes George Gaylord Simpson, Ernst Mayr, Theodosius Dobzhansky and Carl Hubbs. He also undertakes research in teaching and learning practices in higher education. He is a fellow of the Linnean Society of London and a Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London.

PROFESSOR CHRIS STRINGER

His first degree was in Anthropology at University College London in 1969, after which he went on to achieve doctoral and honorary degrees at Bristol University and a Visiting Professorship at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has published over 200 academic papers, edited volumes and books and co-written popular books on evolution (including The Complete World of Human Evolution, Thames & Hudson, 2005) and on other subjects such as the Piltdown forgery. He is currently directing a major project at the museum into the origins of humans in the UK. The five-year study, called the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB), has been awarded over a million pounds by the Leverhulme Trust.

DR. COLIN MENTER

BA Anthropology, University of Arizona and PhD in Palaeo-anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has worked extensively in southern Africa at field excavations, including the famous fossil sites such as Makapansgat, Taung, Kromdraai and Gladysvale. Currently he is the Deputy Director at Drimolen, which is one of the newest and most remarkable hominid sites being excavated in Africa. Due to his comprehensive experience at excavations in South Africa, he is uniquely qualified to conduct tours to the famous fossil sites such as Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Drimolen and Kromdraai. Colin has been conducting tours since 1997 not only to support his research, but also to provide funding for further investigations into other cave sites in South Africa. Having worked in the field of Palaeo-anthropology for several years, he is intimately familiar with the fossils and fossil sites of South Africa and as such is able to provide a unique insight into the famous fossil sites of the Sterkfontein Valley World Heritage Sites. He has also been involved as an expert guide to train local guides in Palaeo-anthropology.

CREDITS
Executive Producer for The History Channel: MARC ETKIND
Production Coordinator for The History Channel: EMILY MACDOWELL

Directed by NIC YOUNG
Produced by ANNA THOMSON
Executive Producer BILL LOCKE
Editor: CRISPIN HOLLAND
Cinematography: BRIAN McDAIRMANT
Music: ILAN ESHKERI
Assistant Producer RENATE SAMSON
Production Manager TRICIA CHACON
Production Coordinator CARINA WILSON
Director of Production SHAHANA MEER

South Africa
Location Management BIG BANANA FILMS
Location Manager RICK MATTHEWS
Unit Manager ELLOISE VAN RENSBURG
Art Director SIMON REES
Casting Director KEVIN GRAY
Costume Designer DARION HING
Make-up THEOLA BOOYENS
Prosthetics GRAHAM PRESS
Standby Props BOBBY CARDOSA
Props Master JAMES TAYLOR
Grip/Spark JUSTIN VAN ZYL

Sound Recordists ARTHUR KOUNDOURIS
SAM DIAMOND
KEVIN MEREDITH
Camera Assistants HOUSTON HADDEN
KAYE RUDIN
TOONI MAHTO

Graphic Design RED VISION
BURST TV
Animations JOANA TEIXIDOR
Colorist AIDAN FARRELL
On-line Editor CHRIS BEESON
Sound Mixer BOB JACKSON

Program Consultant PROF. CHRIS STRINGER

With special thanks to JOHANNESBURG ZOO
DR. FRANCIS THACKERAY
PROFESSOR P V TOBIAS
DR. TERRY HOPKINSON
LINVATEC UK LTD.

Archive footage BBC Television

Produced by LION TELEVISION / an All3 Media Group Company / for THE HISTORY CHANNEL.

Source: The History Channel

CONTACT: Kathie Gordon of The History Channel, +1-212-210-1320,
kathie.gordon@aetn.com

Web site: http://www.historychannel.com/
http://www.historychannelpress.com/

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