A pioneer in the field of paleoanthropology--the study of early humans and prehumans through both their fossilized remains and the cultural artifacts (mostly stone tools) they left behind--Louis Leakey helped change the prevailing view of humankind's origins. Along with other paleoanthropologists, he sought clues to, among other mysteries, how and when modern humans and apes split off from a common ancestor, and the identification of the point at which a creature appeared on the earth who can accurately be given the designation "human."

Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was born on August 7, 1903, in Kabete, Kenya. His parents, Mary Bazett (d. 1948) and Harry Leakey (1868-1940) were Church of England missionaries at the Church Missionary Society, Kabete, Kenya. Louis spent his childhood in the mission, where he learned the Kikuyu language and customs (he later compiled a Kikuyu grammar book). As a child, while pursuing his interest in ornithology--the study of...