Where Did We Come From? is the Australian edition of a book sold overseas as The Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins.

It is a beautifully illustrated account of human evolution, from the first hominids to relatively recent times when Homo sapiens began to spread across the world. The style is simple enough for older children, but adults will also enjoy the clarity with which Zimmer sorts out humanity's tangled evolutionary path. He explains historical and current controversies, and includes the latest findings and theories.

Along the way, we meet species that either preceded modern humans or lived with prehistoric Homo sapiens. Among them are Sahelanthropus tchadensis, the first hominid of which we have a fossil record (about six to seven million years old). Then there is Australopithecus afarensis, the species to which the famous "Lucy" belonged when she lived in Africa over three million years ago. Closer to the present day are Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalis. The earliest fossils of Homo sapiens itself are now dated to 195,000 years old, though there is still some controversy as to how much our species evolved after that. Some scientists believe the modern human mind, with its remarkable linguistic and toolmaking powers, was fully formed only about 50,000 years ago.

One of the book's most fascinating stories is of the discovery of so-called 'hobbits', a species of tiny humans who lived in quite recent times.

Found on the Indonesian island of Flores, the fossils were christened Homo floresiensis.

They date from about 95,000 to about 18,000 years ago, and there is evidence that they survived for several more millennia. Perhaps they were wiped out by a volcanic eruption, or they may have been driven to extinction by evolutionary competition from Homo sapiens.

Zimmer also describes the successive waves of hominids that migrated from Africa in prehistoric times - with handy maps showing the routes taken. Homo erectus dispersed from the homeland about 1.8 million years ago, and Homo heidelbergensis about 600,000 years ago - some of the latter evolved into the Neanderthals of Europe. Back in Africa, Homo sapiens also evolved from Homo heidelbergensis. Homo sapiens finally came out of Africa about 50,000 years ago.

Zimmer concludes by speculating about our future. Will there be any further speciation, he asks, now we populate most of the earth, with rapid transport between regions? Such a global species lacks the reproductively isolated groups that typically make speciation possible.

Will we take charge of our own evolution using genetic engineering? Or will we give way to superintelligent robots?