Mapping Human History (Gen, Ras, dan Asal Usul Manusia)

by Steve Olson

book data

111 ratings, 3.79 average rating, 16 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		21%
4		43%
3		30%
2		4%
1		0%

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published

October 2004 (first published 2002) by PT. Serambi Ilmu Semesta

binding

Paperback, 400 pages

isbn

9793335904

description

Sebagai sebuah buku yang dinobatkan sebagai Buku Sains Terbaik versi Discover dan Finalis National Book Award 2002, buku ini tidak seperti buku sains ...more

[close] Sebagai sebuah buku yang dinobatkan sebagai Buku Sains Terbaik versi Discover dan Finalis National Book Award 2002, buku ini tidak seperti buku sains lainnya. Membaca buku ini seperti membaca sebuah novel, tidak layaknya buku sains lainnya.

Setelah berpetualang melintasi empat benua, Steve Olson penulis-sains terkemuka saat ini berhasil melacak asal-usul manusia modern dan penyebaran para leluhur kita di seluruh dunia selama lebih dari 150.000 tahun silam. Ditopang oleh sumber yang amat kaya, termasuk penelitian genetik paling mutakhir, bukti-bukti linguistik, dan penemuan-penemuan arkeologis, Olson menunjukkan kesatuan yang mengejutkan di antara manusia modern dan membuktikan betapa naifnya sebagian gagasan kita tentang asal-mula leluhur manusia. Kini, ulas Olson, tulang dan batu bukanlah satu-satunya catatan tentang masa lalu kita. Belakangan diketahui, sesungguhnya setiap orang membawa sebuah catatan dalam hampir setiap sel tubuhnya. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) manusia, suatu molekul panjang dan kompleks yang meneruskan informasi genetik dari satu generasi ke generasi berikutnya, membawa jejak sejarah manusia yang tak mungkin terhapus. DNA kita merekam evolusi seekor kera Afrika yang mulai berjalan dengan dua kaki lebih dari empat juta tahun yang lampau. DNA mencatat kemunculan manusia modern di savana-savana Afrika bagian timur sekitar 7.500 generasi yang lalu. DNA juga dapat memberi informasi tentang diversifikasi manusia modern jadi berbagai “ras” dan “kelompok etnik” yang kita kenal sekarang ini.

Buku ini menawarkan sebuah geneologi seluruh manusia, menjelaskan—misalnya—mengapa setiap orang mengaku Julius Caesar dan Confucius sebagai nenek moyangnya; kapan dan bagaimana kelompok-kelompok manusia kemudian memiliki tampilan-tampilan fisik yang beragam dan apa makna tampilan-tampilan fisik ini; serta bagaimana kelompok-kelompok itu bercampur dan bercerai-berai.

Olson juga menyuguhkan perspektif baru yang mengejutkan tentang penemuan agrikultural, asal-usul bahasa, konsep ras, dan sebagainya. Dengan pemaparan yang cemerlang dan memikat, Mapping Human History bakal mengubah cara kita berpikir tentang diri kita sendiri dan hubungan kita dengan orang lain. [close]

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02/22/08

Grumpus rated it:

(review of isbn 0618091572)

bookshelves: science

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in March, 2008

It’s the history of all of us. . . and we’re more alike than most people know.

Mitochondrial Eve (our common female ancestor) lived fewer than 200,000 years ago and thus shows the recency of our common ancestry. “Some people might like to believe that genetic mixing of people from different groups is rare—and that their ancestors certainly didn’t mix with hoi polloi. But groups have many ways of mixing.”

By comparing the DNA sequences of people all over the ...more It’s the history of all of us. . . and we’re more alike than most people know.

Mitochondrial Eve (our common female ancestor) lived fewer than 200,000 years ago and thus shows the recency of our common ancestry. “Some people might like to believe that genetic mixing of people from different groups is rare—and that their ancestors certainly didn’t mix with hoi polloi. But groups have many ways of mixing.”

By comparing the DNA sequences of people all over the world, geneticists have found 85% of the total amount of genetic difference in humans occurs within groups and only 15% between populations. As the author puts it, “In other words, most genetic variants occur in all human populations. Geneticists have to look hard to find variants concentrated in specific groups. This pattern is not found in most other animals. Most biologists feel that group genetic differences have to exceed 25%-30% for a single species to be divided into subspecies or races. By this measure, human races do not exist.”

That is a profound statement! “Most African-Americans have European ancestors; all European Americans have African ancestors. Race disguises rather than acknowledges our multifaceted histories.” Showing how insignificant these differences are the author states, “The genetic variants affecting skin color and facial features probably involve a few hundred of the billions of nucleotides in a person’s DNA. Yet societies have built elaborate systems of privilege and control around these miniscule genetic differences.”

Just think about it, just ten generations ago each of us had 1,024 great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents and most of us got our surname from just one of them. Twenty generations ago, we each had more than a million ancestors and at thirty generations we had more than a billion—more than were actually alive back in the time. This is the result of what the author terms “circles of inheritance”—whereby you have individuals contributing to your ancestry through more than one branch of your family tree. It has to do with cousins marrying each other and gets quite complicated.

The end result reminds me of two infamous songs, We Are The World and We Are Family. So, shouldn’t we be able to get along better?
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5 comments

03/12/09

Tacente rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

bookshelves: anthropology, archaeology, genetics, history, population

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in February, 2009

Olson provides one of the most accessible accounts of population genetics, the fascinating field pioneered in the trenches of WWI and later developed into a full-blown science through the efforts of L.L.Cavalli-Sforza and many others. The book is divided into sections corresponding to parts of the world, though this is only a very sketchy division (since the human race is intrinsically interconnected, one can't really speak of Africa without touching upon the rest of the world).

Olson i...more Olson provides one of the most accessible accounts of population genetics, the fascinating field pioneered in the trenches of WWI and later developed into a full-blown science through the efforts of L.L.Cavalli-Sforza and many others. The book is divided into sections corresponding to parts of the world, though this is only a very sketchy division (since the human race is intrinsically interconnected, one can't really speak of Africa without touching upon the rest of the world).

Olson is not a scientist, he's a science journalist, but he's done his research well, and he certainly delivers his message. There are some concepts that are not very clear in his account; for example, the we all have a MRCA - most recent common ancestor - and he, or she, or both, could have lived much more recently than we think, is pretty clear; but Olson also claims that we are all descended from Julius Caesar, or Xerxes - if that person's life did not eke out, today there isn't a single individual on the planet who is not descended from him or her. Olson doesn't really explain it, nor posits a date ante quam everyone's everyone's granddaddy.

Olson is a proponent of the no-race idea, which I myself tend to support because I find it attractive. However, serious objections were raised to such treatment of human diversity, and the idea itself was termed Lewontin's fallacy (by the name of the American geneticist who came up with it). Olson does not address the issue, nor, indeed, lists any recent, scientific objections. It's easy to dispel 18-century notions.

The book searches for the 'oldest existing human populations', the Khoi-san or bushmen of Africa; examines the effects of long-term inbreeding in Samaritans; explores the cohabitation of anatomically modern humans (that's us) and Neandertals in the Near East. One of the chapters is devoted to the apparent racial and ethnic harmony of Hawaii (not without its problems, of course); I never thought Hawaii were so special.

With a couple of caveats, this is probably the best entry-level book on population genetics.(less)

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06/27/07

Cougar Dan Misogynistic Empire rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

This book was full of interesting and pertinent information and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. But if I had to pick a title for it, I would have called it The Case Against Racism. While it does talk a little bit about the origin, distribution, and diversification of the human species over the course of the past 200,000 years, that's not what Olson seems to be focused on. In the book, he goes into great detail discussing the history of bigotry on the basis of race, and then uses science to s...more

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05/29/07

Alvin rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Read in January, 2004

recommends it for: those interested in geography, physical/cultural anthropology, diaspora, and human diversity

I picked up this book without prior knowledge of the genetic human origins theory, and soon I was sucked into a fascinating ride to prehistoric times when early forms of homo sapiens first emerged in East Africa. I'd suggest anyone pondering this book not to be turned off by the word "Genes" in the title - it's true that genetics play a central role in this book, but it is reader-friendly enough to suit even non-science aficionados and young readers. The writing is well-balanced with e...more

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05/27/09

Shep rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Read in May, 2009

A very good read though not quite as engaging as Brian Sykes' work. Olson also seems more motivated by politics than science in explaining the interaction of race, genetics, and culture.

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07/02/09

Emilie Bernier rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Read in July, 2008

A bit repetitive but really interesting nonetheless....I could have used this for my thesis 3 years ago!

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03/04/09

lita marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read

hasil berburu di Islamic Book Fair kemarin. cuma 15 ribu :D

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3 comments

05/10/09

Oswald rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Read in May, 2003

a must read.

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08/23/07

Meinarno rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

bookshelves: antropologi, sejarah

Read in January, 2005

Buku yang pada awalnya membingungkan. Ketika perlahan dibaca, maka takjublah bahwa yang sebenarnya terjadi dalam rangkaian evolusi manusia selama jutaan tahun telah dirangkum oleh Olson.

Beberapa informasi tentang evolusi yang tak ada di buku-buku pelajaran SMA menjadikan buku ini seperti "gerbang" ke area baru yang sama sekali belum tersentuh oleh pengetahuan dasar selama ini.

Sangat baik bagi yang tertarik tentang asal muasal manusia, khususnya dalam hal evolusi...more

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09/24/07

Juno 1101 rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in February, 2007

This one is a great and provocative book,with main thesis that "We, all of earth inhabitants, are from one ancestor". This argument leads to the peace-approach in interracial and interethnic relations. Some friends might say that, "It was what American said,and it was absolutely American project." But, when exploring this book deeper and deeper, we'll get scientific explanation that is also logical and provocative !

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04/06/08

Brent rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Read in August, 2007

Another 'unfinished book,' this one was one of a few I'm checking out that deal with doing history (and thus genealogy) with genetics. This book was marked as a let down becuase it had too little novel information and what it did have was fairly basic. A better book: The Seven Daughters of Eve.

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04/10/08

P. rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Read in April, 2008

This book is an excellent summary of our knowledge of humanity's origins as informed by archaeology, anthropology, DNA,etc. The last chapter is an especially good discussion of "The End of Race" that is the assimilition in Hawaii and that continues to be instructive.

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08/10/07

Rung muang rated it:

(review of isbn 0618352104)

Read in January, 2006

recommends it for: my friend

I love the conclusion of this book, the author seems well understand the life of human being, there are very beautifully put at the end, it is very inpressive, eveybody must read.

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06/05/07

Daniel rated it:

(review of isbn 0747561745)

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in January, 2005

very cool. reexamines the movement of humans out of africa by looking at genetic stuff. Very readable (and understandable) for non-science poeple, like me.

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