Africa is not only the original home of humanity, it is the cradle of its intellect. It was on Africa's savannahs, riverbanks, highlands, deserts, and forests that the first men and women used the power of their minds to shape their environment in ways that suited them. Here man established himself as a tool maker, a hunter and advanced social being. Over the course of millions of years, groups of prehistoric Africans of the genus Homo reasoned, judged, understood, and created the basis for much of the technology and industry that exists in the world today. 

John E. Pfeiffer