As an undergraduate, I had an opportunity to go on a number of archeological digs. So I had experience excavating, digging up remains of ancient Indian villages in the Midwest and in the Southwest. — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
I was being groomed as an undergraduate to specialize in Midwestern prehistory, but going back to my teenage days, my interest has always been in our early human ancestors. I wanted to work in Africa. — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
My real father died when I was two years old, so I never knew him. He was a barber in Chicago. — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
But what really excited me was the idea that humans had a tremendous pre-history that went back millions of years. I wanted to go… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
You don't just magically flip some evolutionary switch somewhere and transmute a quadruped into an upright-walking bipedal human. — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
We are placed in the genus of Homo, which is Latin for man - Homo sapiens: supposedly wise men. I sometimes think - wonder… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
When I realized, in 1978, that Lucy did represent a new species of human ancestor, and that I had an opportunity to name this… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
Journalists often ask me when I go to the field, 'What do you expect to find?' And my answer always is, 'The unexpected,' because… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
I find a tremendous receptivity among the public for the subject matter of, 'Where did we come from and how did we get here?'… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
Evolution explains our biological evolution, but human beings are very unique creatures. As the Dobzhansky said, all animals are unique; humans are the uniquest.… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
In our case, finding a Lucy is unique. No one will ever find another Lucy. You can't order one from a biological supply house.… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
Most Achievers I Know Are People Who Have Made A Strong And Deep Dedication to Pursuing A Particular Goal. That Dedication Took A Tremendous… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
It's very hard for all of us, when we've committed ourselves to a particular interpretation, to change our minds. — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
This was the most important discovery I had ever made in my life. It was a discovery which has irrevocably changed my whole life's… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
What's changed is we now have good anatomical, geological, archaeological evidence that Neanderthals are not our ancestors. When I wrote 'Lucy,' I considered Neanderthals… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
What makes us human depends on what place on our evolutionary path we're talking about. If you go back six million years ago, what… — Donald Johanson Copy Share Image
