The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyPenguin Adult, 2003 M05 29 - 224 pages Around 60,000 years ago, a man, identical to us in all important respects, walked the soil of Africa. Every man alive today is descended from him. How did he come to be father to all of us - a real-life Adam? And why do we come in such a huge variety of sizes, shapes, types and races if we all share a single prehistoric ancestor?
In this fascinating book, Spencer Wells shows how the truth about our ancestors is hidden in our genetic code, and reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible not just to discover where our ancestors lived (and who they may have fought, loved, learned from and influence) but to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. |
From inside the book
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... Called Mungo 3 by his discoverer , Jim Bowler , the find was dated to around 30,000 years ago when it was discovered in 1974. More recent dating methods have pushed the age back to 45,000 years , and human artefacts from sedimentary ...
... called - rather intimidatingly - thermoluminescence , optically stimulated luminescence and electron spin resonance . All rely on the observation that naturally occurring radiation causes electrons - another type of subatomic particle ...
... called Lubbock , in the so - called Panhandle region of Texas , we used to relate geographic distance in the form of time . The distance between Lubbock and Brownfield , a nearby town , was often given as ' around forty - five minutes ...