Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (book)

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are is a 1992 book by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are

Cover of the first edition
Authors	Carl Sagan Ann Druyan
Language	English
Subject	History of life
Publisher	Random House (1992) Ballantine Books (1993)
Publication date	1992 (Random House) 1993 (Ballantine Books)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback and Paperback)
Pages	528
ISBN	0-394-53481-6
OCLC	28866374
Followed by	Pale Blue Dot

Overview

The authors give a summary account of the evolutionary history of life on Earth, with particular focus upon certain traits central to human nature and the discussion of where their precursors began to develop in other species. In the final chapters, they examine primates in detail, comparing the details between anatomically modern humans and the extant species most closely related to them.

The book was the basis for an episode of the same name in the 2020 series Cosmos: Possible Worlds, written by Druyan and Brannon Braga.

Publication data

• Sagan, Carl; Druyan, Ann (1992). Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-53481-6.
• Sagan, Carl; Druyan, Ann (1993). Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-38472-5.