CHAPTER ELEVEN
Physical Technology
FROM STONE TOOLS TO SPACECRAFT
STANLEY KUBRICK’S film masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, opens with a scene entitled “The Dawn of Man.” The sun rises over the timeless beauty of the east African savanna, and we see a group of apelike creatures begin to stir with the morning. The creatures are early hominids—not quite ape, not quite human. The hominids make their way to a water hole, a scarce resource in the parched landscape, where they confront another troop of protohumans. The first troop is slightly larger, more aggressive, and better organized in its attack. It is a close fight, but the first group manages ...
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