The book is addressed to those who do not boil with indignation when they say that man descended from a monkey. The talented popularizer of science Lev Shilnik believes that doubting this today is as indecent as doubting the sphericity of the Earth. Are you interested in the vicissitudes of this difficult process? Are you interested in the intricate balance of innate and acquired behavior patterns of primates and humans? This book provides an opportunity to get to know the biography of Homo sapiens better, to clearly see how it all began, what it led to and how it will end. For a wide range of readers.