The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyAllen Lane, 2002 - 224 pages Around 60,000 years ago, a man walked the soil of Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. How did he come to be father to all of us - a real life Adam? To find out, Spencer Wells embarked on a unique voyage of discovery, travelling the world and deciphering the genetic codes of people from the Sahara Desert to Siberia. He reveals how our DNA enables us to work out where our ancestors lived, (and who they may have fought, loved and learned from); to re-trace their footsteps from Africa to the far corners of the earth ; to understand how we evolved into such a huge variety of sizes, shapes and races - and, ultimately, to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. |
From inside the book
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Page 46
... Ancient Mariner . The former , composed subcon- sciously while in an opium - induced dream state - how better to conjure the ' stately pleasure dome ' – is an extraordinary exercise in literary imagery . The latter , written during a ...
... Ancient Mariner . The former , composed subcon- sciously while in an opium - induced dream state - how better to conjure the ' stately pleasure dome ' – is an extraordinary exercise in literary imagery . The latter , written during a ...
Page 80
A Genetic Odyssey Spencer Wells. The Quinkans , and their ancient pedigree , demonstrate the strong sense of connectedness that the Aborigines feel to the land where they live . Their songlines trace ancient journeys across the landscape ...
A Genetic Odyssey Spencer Wells. The Quinkans , and their ancient pedigree , demonstrate the strong sense of connectedness that the Aborigines feel to the land where they live . Their songlines trace ancient journeys across the landscape ...
Page 187
... ancient land . You might find cab drivers or cleaners in the capital who came from this region , but - except for a remote village several days ' hike into the mountains - the Yagnob had largely decamped from their ancient homeland ...
... ancient land . You might find cab drivers or cleaners in the capital who came from this region , but - except for a remote village several days ' hike into the mountains - the Yagnob had largely decamped from their ancient homeland ...
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Common terms and phrases
Aborigines actually Adam Africa agriculture analysis ancient animals anthropologists apes appear Asian Australia Cavalli-Sforza cent central Asia China chromosomes clan climate coastal colleagues common ancestor continent culture Darwin defined descendants developed earliest early human east Asia Eurasian Europe Europeans evolution evolutionary expansion extinct favour frequency genes genetic data genetic diversity genetic variation geneticists genome Hindu Kush hominid Homo erectus human diversity 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 Mediterranean Middle East Middle Eastern migration million mitochondrial DNA modern humans molecules mtDNA mutations Native Americans Neanderthals Neolithic non-African northern nucleotide Nyae origin past perhaps polymorphisms recent region route sample Siberia simply soup recipes south-east Asia southern species spoken spread steppe suggests thousands trace unique Upper Palaeolithic western Y-chromosome lineages