Apeman, Spaceman

Mr. Stover is an anthropology professor who has been recommending speculative fiction to his students for years. Here's a handy and stimulating anthology for the student who might wonder whether what would happen if Pithecanthropus were still around - as a football player for instance. The stories are top notch, from Arthur C. Clarke's Nine Billion Names of God to Peanuts. What if a galactic survey team picked an Eskimo as representative of Earth's highest form of civilization; if dolphins had to train man to survive in their world after the holocaust; if there were a lost tribe of Neanderthals somewhere? Mr. Stover contributes an entertaining lesson at the end to demonstrate where authors went both right and wrong and the book should become a teacher's pet in this science. (Kirkus Reviews)