The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyAround 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 5
All major changes – in organisms as well as the planet itself – were driven by
these freak events . The distribution of the world ' s plant and animal species was
due to a series of catastrophic events during their history . The problem with ...
All major changes – in organisms as well as the planet itself – were driven by
these freak events . The distribution of the world ' s plant and animal species was
due to a series of catastrophic events during their history . The problem with ...
Page 6
During the trip , Darwin made several major discoveries , including finding a
reasonable explanation for why coral atolls are round ( it has to do with receding
volcanoes ) and deciding that the Tahitians were very attractive people indeed .
During the trip , Darwin made several major discoveries , including finding a
reasonable explanation for why coral atolls are round ( it has to do with receding
volcanoes ) and deciding that the Tahitians were very attractive people indeed .
Page 151
... did our more recent ancestors gain an adaptive advantage from technology .
The first major technological development of the last 10 , 000 years was
agriculture , and it would set in motion a massive acceleration of human social
evolution .
... did our more recent ancestors gain an adaptive advantage from technology .
The first major technological development of the last 10 , 000 years was
agriculture , and it would set in motion a massive acceleration of human social
evolution .
What people are saying - Write a review
Review: The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
User Review - Joe - GoodreadsConclusion of Wells' work is that we're all descendants of a single man who lived in Africa about 20,000 years ago. And he is convincing! Very interesting book, with some genetic science thrown in to spice it up (but it doesn't get in the way). Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - snash - LibraryThingThe book presents a picture of man's migrations between 60,000 and 10,000 years ago. It is a companion book with the TV special and provides more background into the scientific rational of the study and its conclusions. It is presented in a manner quite understandable to the lay person. Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
actually Africa agriculture allowed American analysis ancestors ancient animals answer appear archaeological Asia Asian Australia called cent central Asia century chromosomes clan clear clearly climate coastal common continent culture defined descendants developed distribution diversity earliest early eastern effect estimate Eurasian Europe Europeans evidence evolution evolutionary expansion fact frequency genes genetic genome gives groups India Indo-European infer journey known languages later lineages linguistic living look major marker means methods Middle East migration million mitochondrial modern humans moved mtDNA mutations Native nature Neanderthals Neolithic occurred origin particular past pattern perhaps period polymorphisms populations present probably reason recent recipes region relatively remains sample seems seen sequence similar simply single southern species spread steppe suggests thousands trace University Upper Palaeolithic variation western Y-chromosome
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey |
| Author | Spencer Wells |
| Photographs by | Mark Read |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Allen Lane, 2002 |
| ISBN | 0713996250, 9780713996258 |
| Length | 224 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |