The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

(Paperback, Revised edition)

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Around 200,000 years ago, a man--identical to us in all important respects--lived in Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. How did this real-life Adam wind up father of us all What happened to the descendants of other men who lived at the same time And why, if modern humans share a single prehistoric ancestor, do we come in so m

Reviews

"The Journey of Man is a book that should be read, for undeniably the story Wells reveals will transform our understanding of ourselves."--Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books "Spencer Wells chronicles the history of genetic population studies, starting with Darwin's puzzlement over the diversity of humanity he saw first-hand from the deck of the Beagle, and ending with the various attempts to classify human variation on the basis of different political and social agendas."--Rebecca Cann, Nature "The Journey of Man is fascinating and oozes charm... [It] is packed with important insights into our history and our relationships with each other... Who needs literature when science is this much fun"--Chris Lavers, Guardian "The Journey of Man is the best account available of the story of human origins and dispersals."--Colin Renfrew, Times Higher Education Supplement "Fortunately for the lay reader, Wells has a knack for clear descriptions and clever analogies to help explain the intricacies of the science involved. Both entertaining and enlightening."--Library Journal "Wells does an excellent job of making complex scientific data accessible and weaves a tapestry of physical anthropology and archaeology as well as linguistics and, of course, genetics to piece together the rise of the agricultural society, the interrelations between far-flung languages, and the eventual settlement of humans into virtually every corner of the globe."--Elise Proulx, East Bay Express

Author Bio

Spencer Wells is an entrepreneur and an adjunct professor at the University of Texas. He is the author of Deep Ancestry and Pandora's Seed.