With no scientific training, the 52-year-old mother of three decided to pen a riposte to the grand theorists of the hour, singlehandedly - and singlemindedly - championing a hitherto ignored alternative explanation for human evolution called the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. The Descent of Woman, part feminist polemic, part evolutionary bombshell, became a bestseller, translated into 25 languages and introducing a huge readership to this compelling hypothesis. "But I didn't start out with the aquatic theory," she confesses cheerily. "I just thought, 'There is something wrong with what they are saying now - not only do I not like the feel of it but I think it's demonstrably nonsense.' So I just waded in."
The aquatic theory of human evolution was first advanced by marine biologist Professor Sir Alister Hardy in New Scientist in 1960. He posited what may have happened during the Pliocene epoch, which lasted about five million years and for which no fossil information exists - the "fossil gap". In an emerging African continent scorched by drought, our ancestors entered the Pliocene as hairy quadrapeds with no language and left it hairless, upright and discussing what kinds of bananas they liked best. What happened in between? Hardy came up with a startling suggestion.
Libby Brooks interviews Elaine Morgan in Guardian UK May 1, 2003
