In Java in 1891 Eugene Dubois made a discovery of staggering significance. Through sheer force of personality, intellect & luck, he had pulled off one of the greatest scientific coups of all time. During his youth he decided that the most important contribution a man could make to science would be to find the missing link -- the extinct form that exemplifies the evolutionary connection between humans & apes. It would be the proof of Darwinian evolution, then still controversial. Dubois deduced where the missing link should be & found the fossil he sought, now known as Homo erectus. Here are letters, diaries & photos from Dubois' personal collection, supplemented by those of his friends -- & enemies -- to recreate the life of this brilliant & complex man.