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 xiv
... significant advantages. For me, the chance to retrace my own personal 'journey of man' and to meet people from around the world - to see how they live and to discuss the scientific results with them — were profound and wonderful ...
... significant advantages. For me, the chance to retrace my own personal 'journey of man' and to meet people from around the world - to see how they live and to discuss the scientific results with them — were profound and wonderful ...
Page 4
... significant change in the way we viewed our place in the world, the dragon slayers were not philosophers or clergymen but professional scientists. Joseph Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley, both Victorians par excellence, were strong ...
... significant change in the way we viewed our place in the world, the dragon slayers were not philosophers or clergymen but professional scientists. Joseph Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley, both Victorians par excellence, were strong ...
Page 5
... that over long periods of time these incremental steps produce significant results? It seemed so much easier to reconcile with the actual data, said Lyell. All of this was percolating in young Darwin's mind when The Diverse Ape 5.
... that over long periods of time these incremental steps produce significant results? It seemed so much easier to reconcile with the actual data, said Lyell. All of this was percolating in young Darwin's mind when The Diverse Ape 5.
Page 16
... significant differences in their patterns of genetic diversity, then Linnaeus and Coon must be right. Lewontin describes the development of the analysis: The paper was written in response to a request . . . to contribute an article to ...
... significant differences in their patterns of genetic diversity, then Linnaeus and Coon must be right. Lewontin describes the development of the analysis: The paper was written in response to a request . . . to contribute an article to ...
Page 22
... significant role for natural selection. Most of the polymorphisms studied by human geneticists, though, had probably arrived at their current frequencies because of drift. This opened the door to a new way of analysing the rapidly ...
... significant role for natural selection. Most of the polymorphisms studied by human geneticists, though, had probably arrived at their current frequencies because of drift. This opened the door to a new way of analysing the rapidly ...
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