Part One, "First Steps," examines the factors that caused us to split from the other great apes. The program explores the fossil of "Selam," also known as "Lucy's Child." Paleoanthropologist Zeray Alemseged spent five years carefully excavating the sandstone-embedded fossil.
NOVA's cameras are there to capture the unveiling of the face, spine, and shoulder blades of this 3.3 million-year-old fossil child. And NOVA takes viewers "inside the skull" to show how our ancestors' brains had begun to change from those of the apes.
Why did leaps in human evolution take place? "First Steps" explores a provocative "big idea" that sharp swings of climate were a key factor.
The other programs in the "Becoming Human" series are part two: "Birth of Humanity," which profiles the earliest species of humans, and part three: "Last Human Standing," which examines why, of various human species that once shared the planet, only our kind remains. These episodes will air on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 beginning at 8 p.m.
Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.
