This book fascinated me from my later childhood years right through to the early Acne Vulgaris Period, and it did so because it is great. Written by Dixon, illustrated by Phillip Hood, it reminds me of an updated version of the Codex Seraphinianus or the Voynich Manuscript, an envisioning of a whole non-existent ecosystem. Except any kid who liked pictures of monsters could've got a hold of this one from the local library in the early nineties. It is awesome.
After reading Jeff's latest blog post, with it's focus on transhumanism and the evolutionary paths we've taken or failed to take, as well as the possible future redundancy of humanity itself - while listening to Zager and Evan's "In The Year 2525" - I thought this might actually be more of a General Discussion topic than a Lounge one. I also thought somebody might read it here.
This, my pretties, is "Man After Man", by Dougal Dixon:
This is a summary of the "plot". It is a bit long, so feel free to skip it. Like the book itself, this post is really all about the cool pictures:
The book begins with the impact of genetic engineering. For 200 years modern humans morphed the genetics of other humans to create genetically-altered creatures. The aquamorphs and aquatics are marine humans with gills instead of lungs. One species - the vacuumorph - has been engineered for life in the vacuum of space. Its skin and eyes carry shields of skin to keep its body stable even without pressure. Civilization eventually collapses, with a few select humans escaping to colonize space. The humans that manufactured these species degrade to simple farmers and following a magnetic reversal, were driven to extinction. Other humans, the Hitek, become almost totally dependent on cybernetic technology. With Magnetic reversal imminent, the Hitek built genetically altered humans to occupy niches: Genetically-altered humans include a temperate woodland species, a prairie species, a jungle species, and a tundra-dwelling species.
Since then the genetically-altered humans must face a new phenomenon. They can no longer be genetically tweaked in a lab, so all modifications must naturally evolve. Many new forms resulted from natural selection. Socials, colonial humans with a single reproductive parent, Fishers, otter-like fishing humans, Slothman sloth-like humans, Spiketeeth, saber-toothed predatory humans, and even parasitic humans developed through natural changes.
After five million years of uninterrupted evolution, the descendants of modern man that retreated into space returned. Then the world changed dramatically. Earth was terraformed and covered in vast alien cities. The humans and other life forms in this new Earth must breathe air with low oxygen content. Thus the alien invaders use cyborg-technology to fuse the bodies of the few human species they find useful on the planet with air tanks and respiration systems. Genetic modification also returned and giant building humans and tiny connection humans were bred to aid city construction. Genetically created horse-like men serve as mounts for the invaders. Some engineered human species even became farmed like pigs or cattle. As with all civilization, this new era of man fell apart once again.
Eventually the spacefaring humans left, the Earth was left in ruins. With barely any oxygen left in the Earth's atmosphere, all terrestrial life on the planet perished. At the bottom of the world's oceans, at the oases that were the underwater hot springs, life continue. In the abyss, was Piscanthropus profundus, a deep-sea descendant of the now-extinct Aquatic evolved. It is implied that Piscathropus profundis would eventually recolonize Earth's surface.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_After_Man
These are the Hunter Symbionts. The smaller, parasitical future humans control the larger, lumbering humans by tapping into their central nervous systems through the flesh with their talons. These fights are largely symbolic or ritualistic, as the text explains - simply a way for the parasites to settle their disputes without risking injury to themselves.
Here is one of the most "internet famous" Dougal Dixon pictures, of a parasite latching onto it's host:
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These guys are aquatics, the products of our genetic engineering experiments 200 years hence. They mainly just swim about, doing bugger all of note, as the text explains.
These are Slothmen. They are pretty much just like modern-day men, except all of them are ginger.
One of the more disturbing possible-futures that Dougal Dixon considers is these big lumpy guys, who graft replacement organs onto themselves (in case their original organs fail, as they increasingly do in this time period) and also excess limbs, sometimes for purely aesthetic purposes. Tastes in fashion may change drastically over the coming millenia.
Another parasitical human feeding on it's oblivious human host, who has developed extraneous fatty tissue for the parasitical humans to live on. I have a feeling this one was only included because it was a cool picture.
This one too.
This is a Vacuumorph. Genetically engineered to survive in a vacuum.
Socials, the pale fat things in the above picture, hate and fear Hivers, because Hivers steal their babies and raise them as their own. The male Hiver on the left, you may notice, looks like a Liverpudlian from the Seventies, only black. Make of it what you will.
Even after millenia of evolution and genetic splicing, Dougal Dixon concedes, Glasgow will still be Glasgow.
So. I find this book fascinating. What do you think?
