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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 13
Page 4
... Darwin's new theory of evolution by natural selection. Huxley, lecturer in biology at the London School of Mines, later became better known as 'Darwin's Bulldog'. Hooker was an accomplished botanist and assistant director of the Royal ...
... Darwin's new theory of evolution by natural selection. Huxley, lecturer in biology at the London School of Mines, later became better known as 'Darwin's Bulldog'. Hooker was an accomplished botanist and assistant director of the Royal ...
Page 5
... Darwin had developed a keen interest in science during his childhood. While he had the usual chemistry accidents ... Darwin's interests were primarily of the outdoor variety. He was inordinately fond of beetles (he once wrote in a letter ...
... Darwin had developed a keen interest in science during his childhood. While he had the usual chemistry accidents ... Darwin's interests were primarily of the outdoor variety. He was inordinately fond of beetles (he once wrote in a letter ...
Page 6
... Darwin was the de facto naturalist on the journey, and his lack of official status as such allowed him enormous leeway in pursuing his own studies. His journal from the five-year journey, The Voyage of the Beagle, is a classic ...
... Darwin was the de facto naturalist on the journey, and his lack of official status as such allowed him enormous leeway in pursuing his own studies. His journal from the five-year journey, The Voyage of the Beagle, is a classic ...
Page 7
... Darwin described the Fuegians as being '. . . stunted in their growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures violent. Viewing such ...
... Darwin described the Fuegians as being '. . . stunted in their growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures violent. Viewing such ...
Page 8
... Darwin, writing before the acceptance of this codified definition, there nonetheless seemed to be no question as to ... Darwin's Fuegians, among other groups. To Linnaeus, it seemed that the differences among humans were great enough to ...
... Darwin, writing before the acceptance of this codified definition, there nonetheless seemed to be no question as to ... Darwin's Fuegians, among other groups. To Linnaeus, it seemed that the differences among humans were great enough to ...
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