The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyPenguin Adult, 2003 M05 29 - 288 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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... diversity , The Distribution of the Human Blood Groups - a seminal work that became the standard text of experimental human population genetics for the next twenty years . This was the beginning of the modern era of human genetics ...
... genetic trace . Unfortunately , Homo erectus appears to have lost . common ancestor ― As we'll see , other genetic ... diversity that can be found in any African village . Why does diversity indicate greater age ? Thinking back to our ...
... genetic diversity . Like a bespoke experiment , they provide a social contrast to the prevailing pattern in human populations around the world . We have used the Y - chromosome for most of our studies of human migration . This is ...