The Art of Tracking

Liebenberg, Louis (1990) The Art of Tracking. : the Origin of Science. University of Groningen, Claremont, South Africa. ISBN 0864861311, 9780864861313

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Abstract

In a work of painstaking and wide-ranging scholarship, backed up by fieldwork among the Kalahari hunter-gatherers, Louis Liebenberg explains how the art of tracking represents a crucial step in human evolution. Liebenberg examines the principles of tracking, and the classification and interpretation of spoor under difficult conditions. He also shows how the original speculative hypotheses of early hunter-gatherers have a direct line to the propositions of modern physicists who track " sub-atomic particles. In the book, the author argues that the art of tracking involves the same intellectual and creative abilities as physics and mathematics, and may therefore represent the origin of science itself. The book has been hailed as a real contribution to our understanding of the complexity involved in the process by which indigenous peoples track and hunt animals. It is insightful, detailed and well articulated. Highly original work: This is indeed a highly original and multi-disciplinary work fuelled with the obvious passion the author has for his subject. Liebenberg delves first into the evolution of hunter-gatherer subsistence, tracing our four-million-year hominid history to analyse the evolution of subsistence and the emergence of tracking as a primary tool in that subsistence. This, he suggests, is the first attempt at science and a scientific discipline and that a study of its origins and development can clarify the development of the current constructs of the human scientific mind. Similarities to modern science: Part two of The Art of Tracking further develops this theme with an analysis of current hunter-gatherer subsistence in Botswana and Namibia's Kalahari and, in particular, the role and development of tracking in this environment and culture. The third and final section examines the "fundamentals of tracking" such as the classification of spoor, its interpretation, the basic principles of following spoor and the similarities of these, in terms of intellectual and creative abilities, to modern science. The Art of Tracking provides an essential companion to any of Liebenberg's field guides on the subject of tracking and whether or not you subscribe to the book's hypothesis, it is fascinating and stimulating reading and fitting testament to Louis Liebenberg's own contribution to the science of tracking.

Item Type:	Book
Uncontrolled Keywords:	hominid, animals, evolution, hunting, tracking
ISBN:	0864861311, 9780864861313
Series Name:	0
Language:	English
Publisher:	University of Groningen
Place of Publication:	Claremont, South Africa
Status:	Published
Uncontrolled Keywords:	hominid, animals, evolution, hunting, tracking
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2020 10:42
Last Modified:	02 Jun 2020 10:42
URI:	https://ebooks.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/51

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