The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyRandom House Publishing Group, 2012 M10 31 - 240 pages Around 60,000 years ago, a man—genetically identical to us—lived in Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. How did this real-life Adam wind up as the father of us all? What happened to the descendants of other men who lived at the same time? And why, if modern humans share a single prehistoric ancestor, do we come in so many sizes, shapes, and races? Examining the hidden secrets of human evolution in our genetic code, Spencer Wells reveals how developments in the revolutionary science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. Replete with marvelous anecdotes and remarkable information, from the truth about the real Adam and Eve to the way differing racial types emerged, The Journey of Man is an enthralling, epic tour through the history and development of early humankind. |
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... field of DNA analysis. . . . In addition to relating the always interesting story of humankind's spread from Africa into the far corners of the world, the author attempts to answer some of the big questions that have concerned ...
... field of DNA analysis. . . . In addition to relating the always interesting story of humankind's spread from Africa into the far corners of the world, the author attempts to answer some of the big questions that have concerned ...
Page xvi
... field into what it really is—a collaborative effort between people around the world who are interested in their shared history. So, with that as an overview, let's start our genetic excavation. The past awaits . . . of Man l The Diverse ...
... field into what it really is—a collaborative effort between people around the world who are interested in their shared history. So, with that as an overview, let's start our genetic excavation. The past awaits . . . of Man l The Diverse ...
Page 3
... field of enquiry until recently limited to philosophers and the church. The good bishop, taking scripture at its most literal, believed the world to be around 6,000 years old, created by the hand of God on 2.3 October 4004 BC, a date ...
... field of enquiry until recently limited to philosophers and the church. The good bishop, taking scripture at its most literal, believed the world to be around 6,000 years old, created by the hand of God on 2.3 October 4004 BC, a date ...
Page 5
... field scavenging for exotic specimens. But it was his interest in geology, developed while he was a student at Cambridge, that was to have the greatest impact on his future work. Geology was undergoing a revolution in the early ...
... field scavenging for exotic specimens. But it was his interest in geology, developed while he was a student at Cambridge, that was to have the greatest impact on his future work. Geology was undergoing a revolution in the early ...
Page 12
... fields such as genetics and the wealth of emerging data from physical anthropology. Once it got going, though, there was no stopping it. The Eugenics Education Society was founded Britain in 1907, in Galton's honour. Its stated ...
... fields such as genetics and the wealth of emerging data from physical anthropology. Once it got going, though, there was no stopping it. The Eugenics Education Society was founded Britain in 1907, in Galton's honour. Its stated ...
Contents
1 | |
4Coasting Away | 61 |
Leaps and Bounds 8 | 81 |
Blood from a Stone 8The Importance of Culture 6 | 184 |
Acknowledgements | 197 |
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Common terms and phrases
actually Adam Africa agriculture analysis ancient animals anthropologists apes appear archaeological Asian Australia Cavalli-Sforza cent central Asia China chromosomes clan classification climate coastal colleagues common ancestor continent culture Darwin defined descendants developed difficult earliest early human east Asia Eurasian Europe Europeans evidence evolution evolutionary expansion favour field find first frequency genes genetic data genetic diversity genetic variation geneticists genome hominid Homo erectus human genetic human migration human populations hunter-gatherers hunting ice age impala India Indo-European Indo-European languages infer ingredients journey known languages leap lifestyle linguistic living marker Middle East Middle Eastern migration mitochondrial DNA modern humans molecules mtDNA mutations Native Americans Neanderthals Neolithic northern nucleotide origin past perhaps polymorphisms population genetics recent region route sample scientific Siberia significant simply soup recipes south-east Asia southern species spoken spread steppe suggests thousands trace unique Upper Palaeolithic western Y-chromosome lineages