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 70
Page xv
... living in the present. This book could not have been written without his intellectual presence, and it is impossible not to feel humbled while taking in the view from his shoulders. One of the most compelling things about being on an ...
... living in the present. This book could not have been written without his intellectual presence, and it is impossible not to feel humbled while taking in the view from his shoulders. One of the most compelling things about being on an ...
Page xvi
... living in the present—it is their living genomes that give us our clues. Every one of us is carrying his or her personal history book around inside us—we simply need to learn how to read it. The Australian Aborigines maintain their ...
... living in the present—it is their living genomes that give us our clues. Every one of us is carrying his or her personal history book around inside us—we simply need to learn how to read it. The Australian Aborigines maintain their ...
Page 2
... living on small coral atolls separated by thousands of miles of open ocean. They appear to be somewhat similar to the Sumatrans encountered before but, as always seems to be the case, they are different. The biggest z The Journey of Man.
... living on small coral atolls separated by thousands of miles of open ocean. They appear to be somewhat similar to the Sumatrans encountered before but, as always seems to be the case, they are different. The biggest z The Journey of Man.
Page 3
... living in such remote locations — how did they get there? Continuing on our route, we encounter the coast of Ecuador, in western South America. In the capital, Quito, we find an odd mix of people. There seem to be two main types: those ...
... living in such remote locations — how did they get there? Continuing on our route, we encounter the coast of Ecuador, in western South America. In the capital, Quito, we find an odd mix of people. There seem to be two main types: those ...
Page 4
... living world. Masters, conquerors, perhaps favoured children — but different. Darwin's insight had changed all of that. This dyspeptic near-recluse had, with a few strokes of his pen (and some twenty years of dabbling with pigeons and ...
... living world. Masters, conquerors, perhaps favoured children — but different. Darwin's insight had changed all of that. This dyspeptic near-recluse had, with a few strokes of his pen (and some twenty years of dabbling with pigeons and ...
Contents
1 | |
4Coasting Away | 61 |
Leaps and Bounds 8 | 81 |
Blood from a Stone 8The Importance of Culture 6 | 184 |
Acknowledgements | 197 |
Other editions - View all
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