Who Ate the First Oyster?: Extraordinary People Behind Greatest Firsts in History

The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History Who told the first joke?Who brewed the first beer?Who caught the first case of smallpox? And, most critically, who was the first person to brave the slimy, pale oyster?In Who Ate the First Oyster?, writer Cody Cassidy uses the latest tools and discoveries of modern science to peer into our past and reveal the identity of the prehistoric geniuses (and the lucky fools) behind history's greatest innovations.With a sharp sense of humour and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory. Until recently these heroes and villains have been completely anonymous, but thanks to modern DNA research and new archaeology, individual people from our deep past are coming into view. Here, in this groundbreaking book, they emerge and take shape as real human beings who are, in many ways, some of the most important who have ever lived.'Cassidy tells the stories of individuals over the past thousands and even millions of years whose names will never be known, but whose innovations benefit us to this day.' New York Post'In this fascinating and entertaining book, Cody Cassidy has done what might seem impossible: illustrating the identity, life, and death of some of the most momentous-and entirely anonymous-figures in human (and prehuman) history' Ryan North Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations.In this book, writer Cody Cassidy digs deep into the latest research to uncover the untold stories of some of these incredible innovators (or participants in lucky accidents). With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory, using the lives of individuals to provide a glimpse into ancient cultures to show how and why these critical developments occurred, and educate us on a period of time that until recently we've known almost nothing about.