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
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Page 17
... cent of the total. A further 7 per cent served to differentiate populations within a 'race', such as the Greeks from the Swedes. Only 8 per cent were found to differentiate between human races. A startling conclusion — and clear ...
... cent of the total. A further 7 per cent served to differentiate populations within a 'race', such as the Greeks from the Swedes. Only 8 per cent were found to differentiate between human races. A startling conclusion — and clear ...
Page 18
A Genetic Odyssey Spencer Wells. 85 per cent of the genetic variation found in the species as a whole. A strong argument indeed against 'scientific' theories of racism — and clear support for Darwin's assessment of human diversity in the ...
A Genetic Odyssey Spencer Wells. 85 per cent of the genetic variation found in the species as a whole. A strong argument indeed against 'scientific' theories of racism — and clear support for Darwin's assessment of human diversity in the ...
Page 19
... cent to 70 per cent in a single generation — a pretty rapid change. Clearly, drift can have a huge effect on gene frequencies in small populations. The combination of these three forces has produced the dizzying array of genetic ...
... cent to 70 per cent in a single generation — a pretty rapid change. Clearly, drift can have a huge effect on gene frequencies in small populations. The combination of these three forces has produced the dizzying array of genetic ...
Page 21
... selection experimentally, so no one could make predictions about the rate of change. In our coin-flipping example, if heads is one variant of a gene and tails is another, then the increase in frequency from 50 per cent E p/uribus unum 2.1.
... selection experimentally, so no one could make predictions about the rate of change. In our coin-flipping example, if heads is one variant of a gene and tails is another, then the increase in frequency from 50 per cent E p/uribus unum 2.1.
Page 22
... cent to 70 per cent in a single 'generation' would imply very strong selection favouring heads. Clearly, though, this isn't the case — heads increased to 70 per cent for reasons that had nothing to do with how well adapted it was ...
... cent to 70 per cent in a single 'generation' would imply very strong selection favouring heads. Clearly, though, this isn't the case — heads increased to 70 per cent for reasons that had nothing to do with how well adapted it was ...
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