Dr. Donald Johanson in Conversation with Carl Zimmer: Discovering Lucy - The 92nd Street Y, New York
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92NY Center for Culture & Arts
Recanati-Kaplan Talks

Dr. Donald Johanson in Conversation with Carl Zimmer: Discovering Lucy

Dr. Donald Johanson and Carl Zimmer

Join renowned paleoanthropologist Dr. Donald Johanson with New York Times science journalist Carl Zimmer on the 50th anniversary of one of the most important landmarks in the history of paleoanthropology — Johanson’s discovery of “Lucy,” one of the oldest known skeletons of an early human ancestor.

Discovered in 1974 in the Afar region of Ethiopia, Lucy is approximately 3.2 million years old. Though she had the rough build and height of a chimpanzee, her bone structure indicated that she walked upright — a crucial development in human evolution. And upon Johanson’s excavation of her, she attracted global attention and fascination. Hear Johanson and Zimmer discuss why her discovery still matters for our understanding of ourselves — what it has taught us about the course of human evolution, why she continues to captivate us, the remarkable coincidences and circumstances that led to her being unearthed, and much more.

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Donald Johanson

Many consider Donald Johanson to be among the most important and accomplished paleoanthropologists of our time …

Donald Johanson

Many consider Donald Johanson to be among the most important and accomplished paleoanthropologists of our time. Over the course of his illustrious career, he has produced some of the field’s groundbreaking discoveries, including the most widely known and thoroughly studied fossil find of the 20th century—the “Lucy” skeleton, discovered in 1974.

It has now been 50 years since the discovery of the Lucy skeleton—the first human ancestor who reliably walked on two feet 3.2 million years ago yet possessed a tiny brain and apparently lacked stone tools. The discovery ignited a worldwide interest in our origins and changed the way we think about human history on Earth—why did Homo sapiens flourish as other ancient ancestor species went extinct? Johanson’s publication in 1981 of Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind marked a turn in the way human origins science was presented to the public. Not simply a story of discovery of events on a timeline, but a compellingly told step-by-step unfolding of the scientific investigation of a previously unknown fossil species; the book was a bestseller and won the National Book Award in Science.

In 1981, Johanson founded the Institute of Human Origins (IHO) in Berkeley, California, a nonprofit scientific organization whose mission was to conduct multidisciplinary paleoanthropological research and provide outlets for information about human origins science to the public. IHO joined Arizona State University in 1997 and has achieved a position of preeminence in the research and public outreach on our origins.

Today, Johanson remains a highly visible public scholar on the importance of understanding human origins to society and anthropology’s best ambassador to a lay audience. Through his books, films, lectures, and media appearances, he speaks eloquently on the power of the knowledge that as stewards of Earth, we have a responsibility to actively promote a balance with nature grounded in science with an aim to protect and preserve our species and our planet’s health

Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer writes the “Origins” column for the New York Times. He is one of the world’s leading writers on the history of life …

Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer writes the “Origins” column for the New York Times. He is one of the world’s leading writers on the history of life, having won the Stephen Jay Gould Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution.

He started his career in science writing at Discover, where he served as a senior editor. Since then, he has written for a wide range of publications, including National Geographic, The Atlantic, Scientific American. His journalism has earned awards from the National Academies of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Association of Science Writers.

Zimmer is also the author of fifteen books, including Life’s Edge: Searching for What It Means to Be Alive and She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity, both of which were finalists for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His latest book, Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe, will be published in February.

Zimmer is professor adjunct at Yale University, where he teaches writing.

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