THE ART OF TRACKING

176 pages, distribution map, diagrams, line drawings, pictorial cover paperback with small marks, a corner has a small fold and sunned spine and top edge, a good copy. 

The book is scholarly work based on extensive fieldwork among the Kalahari hunter-gatherers. It explores the art of tracking as a pivotal step in human evolution, examining how tracking involves intellectual and creative abilities similar to those in physics and mathematics. It details principles of tracking, including classification and interpretation of spoor (animal tracks) under challenging conditions. It also discusses different levels of tracking strategies—simple, systematic (using reasoning and evidence), and speculative (using intuition and hypothesis). Liebenberg argues that early hunters' speculative hypotheses about their prey relate directly to modern scientific methods, positioning tracking as possibly the origin of science itself.