false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170529028m/59028.jpg 59028 5 Spencer Wells traces human evolution back to our very first ancestor in <I>The Journey of Man</I>. Along the way, he sums up the explosive effect of new techniques in genetics on the field of evolutionary biology and all available evidence from the fossil record. Wells's seemingly sexist title is purposeful: he argues that the Y chromosome gives us a unique opportunity to follow our migratory heritage back to a sort of Adam, just as earlier work in mitochondrial DNA allowed the identification of Eve, mother of all <I>Homo sapiens</I>. While his descriptions of the advances made by such luminary scientists as Richard Lewontin and Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza can be dry, Wells comes through with sparkling metaphors when it counts, as when he compares genetic drift to a bouillabaisse recipe handed down through a village's generations. Though finding our primal male is an exciting prospect, the real revolution Wells describes is racial. Or rather, nonracial, as he reiterates the scientific truth that our notions of what makes us different from each other are purely cultural, not based in biology. The case for an "out of Africa" scenario of human migration is solid in this book, though Wells makes it clear when he is hypothesizing anything controversial. Readers interested in a fairly technical, but not overwhelming, summary of the remarkable conclusions of 21st-century human evolutionary biology will find <I>The Journey of Man</I> a perfect primer. <I>--Therese Littleton</I> 2522178 2002 The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey total:121|5:38|4:52|3:24|2:6|1:1| 121 483 207 34 5 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Mar 18 07:30:53 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 18 12:46:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 27 21:54:12 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 22:01:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue May 12 18:16:38 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 18:29:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat May 30 11:32:29 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 11:32:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 01:50:31 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 01:59:05 -0700 2009
Furthermore, thanks to McDonaldisation, the single population that migrated out of Africa 50, 000 years ago and diverged to b...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 19:08:25 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 16 21:19:13 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Mar 29 20:12:31 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 20:36:43 -0700 2008
Having studied Anthropology and Geography in my college days, I have a long-standing interest in the path Man took out of Africa. And to have the bottom line... lines... pinned down...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 20 09:47:25 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 09:48:24 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 08 17:17:46 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 08 17:20:51 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Mar 29 07:28:20 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 07 05:04:16 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 29 07:28:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Apr 09 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Tue Apr 28 15:44:59 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 15:46:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Sep 17 10:43:56 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 10:44:49 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Nov 29 11:40:46 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 11:41:03 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Sun Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jan 21 13:30:12 -0800 2009 Sun Jun 07 09:41:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 08:03:07 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 03 20:12:55 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Dec 21 14:41:46 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 21 14:46:46 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Mar 30 13:40:03 -0700 2007 Fri Mar 30 13:45:20 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 22:08:58 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 11:45:39 -0700 2008
See More...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 15 17:33:01 -0700 2008 Thu May 15 17:47:50 -0700 2008 Very interesting and not too ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 23 18:22:14 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 19:35:11 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=59028