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Robert Ardrey




''African Genesis'' and ''The Territorial Imperative'', Robert Ardrey's most widely read works, as well as Desmond Morris 's '' The Naked Ape '' (1967), were key elements in the Public Discourse of the 1960s which challenged earlier anthropological assumptions.


PALEOANTHROPOLOGY

As a Science Writer for the informed non-specialist reader in Paleoanthropology , which encompasses Anthropology , Ethology , Paleontology and Human Evolution , Robert Ardrey was among the proponents of the Hunting Hypothesis and the "killer ape" theory.

Ardrey postulated that precursors of Australopithecus survived millions of years of drought in the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, as the Savannah spread and the Forest s shrank, by adapting the hunting ways of Carnivorous species. Changes in Survival Techniques and Social Organisation gradually differentiated pre-humans from other Primate s. Concomitant changes in diet potentiated unique developments in the Human Brain .

The Killer Ape Theory posits that Aggression , a vital factor in Hunting Prey for food, was a fundamental characteristic which distinguished prehuman ancestors from other primates.

These themes have also been investigated in Academia by, among others:
  • '' (1966)

  • and Irven DeVore , eds., ''Man the Hunter: Symposium on Man the Hunter'', University of Chicago. Chicago: Aldine Publishing.

  • Sherwood Washburn and Chet Lancaster: ''Man the Hunter'' (1968). ( Washburn's students Lee and DeVore organised the1966 Chicago conference.)

  • (2001).

  • Erich Fromm : ''The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness'' (1973)




Researchers

Some of the scientists whose Research particularly informed Robert Ardrey's scientific investigations, and with several of whom Ardrey consulted at length while developing his four major works in Africa from the 1940s through the 1970s , include:


BOOKS

;''Fiction''
  • ''World's Beginning'' (1944) (Cited in Everett F. Bleiler 's ''The Checklist of Fantastic Literature,'' 1948.)

  • ''The Brotherhood of Fear'' (1952)


;''Nonfiction''
  • ''African Genesis: A Personal Investigation into the Animal Origins and Nature of Man'' (1961)

  • ''The Territorial Imperative: A Personal Inquiry into the Animal Origins of Property and Nations'' (1966)

  • ''The Social Contract: A Personal Inquiry into the Evolutionary Sources of Order and Disorder'' (1970)

  • ''The Hunting Hypothesis: A Personal Conclusion Concerning the Evolutionary Nature of Man'' (1976)

  • (with L.S.B. Leakey ) ''Aggression and Violence in Man: A Dialogue Between Dr Louis Leakey and Mr Robert Ardrey.'' (1971) ISBN 0-03649-184-6.



PLAYS



SCREENPLAYS



HONOURS



PERSONAL

Robert Ardrey was the son of Robert Leslie Ardrey, an editor and publisher, and the former Marie Haswell. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago, where his Mentor was Thornton Wilder . Ardrey was married to Helen Johnson, whom he met at the University, from 1938 until they divorced in 1960 . They had two sons, Ross and Daniel. Ardrey married the South African Stage Actress Berdine Grunewald, who later Illustrated his books, in 1960.


REFERENCES



EXTERNAL LINKS


;General

;Plays and screenplays

;Paleoanthropology