History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The History and Geography of Human Genes

Average customer rating:

What I got out of this book
Great book, if you can get through it...
History and Geography of Homan Genes
A review of everything
Good Book, but Martel is Wrong

The History and Geography of Human Genes
Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza , Paolo Menozzi , and Alberto Piazza
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691087504

Book Description

L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza and his collaborators Paolo Menozzi and Alberto Piazza have devoted fourteen years to one of the most compelling scientific projects of our time: the reconstruction of where human populations originated and the paths by which they spread throughout the world. In this volume, the culmination of their research, the authors explain their pathbreaking use of genetic data, which they integrate with insights from geography, ecology, archaeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics to create the first full-scale account of human evolution as it occurred across all continents. This interdisciplinary approach enables them to address a wide range of issues that continue to incite debate: the timing of the first appearance of our species, the problem of African origins and the significance of work recently done on mitochondrial DNA and the popular notion of an "African Eve," the controversy pertaining to the peopling of the Americas, and the reason for the presence of non-Indo-European languages--Basque, Finnish, and Hungarian--in Europe.

The authors reconstruct the history of our evolution by focusing on genetic divergence among human groups. Using genetic information accumulated over the last fifty years, they examined over 110 different inherited traits, such as blood types, HLA factors, proteins, and DNA markers, in over eighteen hundred, primarily aboriginal, populations. By mapping the worldwide geographic distribution of the genes, the scientists are now able to chart migrations and, in exploring genetic distance, devise a clock by which to date evolutionary history: the longer two populations are separated, the greater their genetic difference should be. This volume highlights the authors' contributions to genetic geography, particularly their technique for making geographic maps of gene frequencies and their synthetic method of detecting ancient migrations, as for example the migration of Neolithic farmers from the Middle East toward Europe, West Asia, and North Africa.

Beginning with an explanation of their major sources of data and concepts, the authors give an interdisciplinary account of human evolution at the world level. Chapters are then devoted to evolution on single continents and include analyses of genetic data and how these data relate to geographic, ecological, archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic information. Comprising a wide range of viewpoints, a vast store of new and recent information on genetics, and a generous supply of visual elements, including 522 geographic maps, this book is a unique source of facts and a catalyst for further debate and research.

Customer Reviews:

What I got out of this book.......2005-05-07

I learned who the people closest genetically to Basques are. The French! Makes sense the French have a a portion of Basque country in their political nation of France. I'm of French background myself. French-Canadian that is.

Great book, if you can get through it..........2005-04-06

This book is very hard to get through as someone with no backing in genetics or biology, but it is very interesting, and it shows how we humans are really just like a couple thousand breeds of dogs, all slightly different, but with the same ancestor, our distant ancestor though was probably no wolf. It is interesting when they mention the little unexplainable historical abnormalities (african genes and caucasian genes in latin american indigenous populations, perhaps?) that they see in the genes of some groups of humans.

I allmost want to dedicate my life to genetics because of all the damn interesting knowledge that could be spawned from the information presented by the authors of this book. If you know anyone studying in this field, you must give them this book for christmas or something, please.

It is now my theory that human language has been the driving force behind human evolution, how often do two parents without a common language stay together 18+ years to raise a family? Just think about that, and it explains the human diaspora pretty well. Humans very rarely mate outside of their language group. You have a group of people in africa that speak the same language, then later on, two languages develop, or three or four, these people migrate off, and form a tribe, this tribe doesnt mate with other tribes because romance and love just dont work without a common language. Tribal names and language names are usually connected anyway, and this is why. When you read this book, you need to view humanity as an animal group pretty much, its very objective without any feeling. Human beings are creatures of communication, communication has driven our evolution forward. Writing started cities, before even that farming started widespread language and trading. It seems that the natural path this should take is more communication, but most people dont like to talk, fewer like to read and write, though that is our path of destiny as humans. The average american spends more money on lottery tickets every year than books. TV is far too widespread now, the love for books is dying, though civilization has allways been built upon the libraries of past civilizations, the histories of the victors.

Anyway,
The things that could be done if these scientists who wrote this book could get together to do research with the people that are at the tip of the spear in supercomputer research...

If you want to have some mental fun/anguish, then this book should be read in conjunction with 'Forbidden Archaeology' by Michael Cremo.

Try it =)

Note that this book is not made for the layman, but if you are a layman, and have a biology textbook laying around, you can get through it no problem.

Any one who is thinking of reading this book, or anyone who has should really do a bit of research on National Geographic's Genographic project that is collecting genetic information all over the world right now (the same migratory route tracing that is in this book) and building a huge database...The cool thing though is that you can send National Geographic $100, and they will send you a kit, you send a cheek swab back, and later on, they tell you everything that you ever wanted to know about your ancestors, and their migratory routes, back 60,000 years...
The database is also building daily, so the information that you will first get about your genes will get more comprehensive as time goes on, and more genetic samples are collected from 10's or 100's of thousands of people all over the planet...
Anyone who reads this book actually MUST do a google search on this National Geographic Genographic Project, right now =)

History and Geography of Homan Genes.......2004-06-09

This work, in hardback, is written with the advanced researcher in mind. The author is world famous for his pioneering efforts in identifying traits in particular traits in ethnic groups with unique genetic markers. The color plates in the index section can be helpful to those who know how to intrepret them.
It's a scholarly treatment of a highly technical subject and a thorough one as well. This is ground-breaking work collected from many samples and analyzed in detail. I think this should be required reading for college students in the field of genetic research.

A review of everything.......2003-06-17

Cavalli-Sforza presents the nearest approximation possible to the correlation of all measurable human genes, markers and attributes. You might think of the work as the "unified field theory" for evloutionary biology, culture and linguistics.

While the heft even of the abridged version is imposing, the component parts are manageable for those who already have basic statistical knowledge or who are willing to pay attention to the author's explanations. The world's populations are addressed in geographic chunks, and then at various appropriate points, more general conclusions drawn from the pieces.

Given the advances in genetic research acheived since publication, the model may ultimately prove more valuable than the particular contents...but for this decade the contents are fascinating.

Good Book, but Martel is Wrong.......2003-04-11

The book provided a great deal of information about genetic distances and the relationships between populations. However, Mr. Martel's review includes lies and these lies must be addressed. First of all, the native North Africans were not "very blonde" or "nordic". In fact, the ORIGINAL population was as black as their rock art depictions of themselves (which just so happen to span the Sahara and date back nearly 10000yrs). Many of these Ancient Saharans were, however, completely abosorbed by an incoming of migrants from the Middle East. Perhaps these migrants are the people Mr. Martel is speaking of??? At any rate, with the dessication of the Sahara, most of the original Saharans (blacks) migrated South into The Sudan. In fact, they can still be found in West Africa today. They (especially the Fulani and Dogon) can be recognized in person as easily as they can be recognized in the Ancient Saharan depictions drawn by their ancestors.

Thus, despite Mr. Martel's comments to the contrary, the admixture seen in North Africans today is not so much the result of slaves (modern admixture) as it is the result of both modern admixture as well as ancient admixture - admixture which took place LONG before the Arabs ventured anywhere near the region. As for the Egyptians, they were from the same stock as the rest of North Africa and they almost always depicted themselves as brown and intermediate between and separate from both the white people of the North (Europe), the light skinned Semites (Middle East), and the darker, more Sudanese people of the South (Nubia).

Mr. Martel is not completely wrong in so far as SOME of these Middle Eastern migrants had blonde hair and light eyes (a few individual Lybians were depicted this way). But, such features were most probably seen at the same rate theyre seen in Middle Easterners and North Africans today. Neither people, however, are "Nordics", and to assume they descend from Nordics based on hair color alone is ridiculous. Blondism occurs in Aborigines... are we to believe they descend from Nordics as well? Somehow, I think not.

Average customer rating:

Amazing combination of science and history

Well written, good science, and fascinating

A great read

This field has NOT been standing still!

How did I get here?

Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors
Nicholas Wade
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors

Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins

Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project

Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland

ASIN: 014303832X

Book Description

Nicholas Wade's articles are a major reason why the science section has become the most popular, nationwide, in the New York Times. In his groundbreaking Before the Dawn, Wade reveals humanity's origins as never before—a journey made possible only recently by genetic science, whose incredible findings have answered such questions as: What was the first human language like? How large were the first societies, and how warlike were they? When did our ancestors first leave Africa, and by what route did they leave? By eloquently solving these and numerous other mysteries, Wade offers nothing less than a uniquely complete retelling of a story that began 500 centuries ago.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing combination of science and history.......2007-09-14

Wade effectively recreates the history of our human ancestors by combining the disciplines of science and history. Some parts were clearly controversial, (his assertion that race does, in fact, have a biological basis) but I think such controversial assertions only add interest to a book and allow the reader to enter into an imaginary dialogue with the author. Wade's criticisms of Diamond (Gun's, Germs and Steel" and "Collapse") were a little harsh and just incorrect in my opinion. This book is ideal for anyone with an interdisciplinary interest in science and history.

Well written, good science, and fascinating.......2007-08-28

Since 1968 when I received my BA in Cultural Anthropology, the science about human origins has gone through radical change. Back then we were taught that moderns humans emerged about 40K years ago and have not changed since then. Nicholas Wade explains how modern genetic researcher reveals that we are still an evolving species. I appreciated Wade's clear and entertaining writing style. I think that if every high school teacher in the country read this book it would bring us out of the mythological dark ages and seperate two completely valid realms, science and religion.

A great read.......2007-08-12

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in human pre-history. A well written overview of human origins and culture that highlights recent findings in molecular genetics (DNA sequencing and gene function) that provide unique insights into where we came from and how we got here. Very read-able, the author does a great job of making the information accessible to, and understandable by, all.

This field has NOT been standing still!.......2007-08-10

Wade reports diligently on many breakthroughs in understanding human prehistory made possible by the melding of genetic with archaeological evidence. Much of this insight has been achieved in just the last few years, thanks to computerized tools for analyzing the genome. If you have not been following this field closely, you'll be astonished at the progress.

Sometimes the "asides" are gripping. There are just a few pages about the domestication of the dog, for instance, that alone almost make the book worth the read. It seems that all modern dogs were derived from (most likely) a single litter of wolves in central Asia, and startlingly recently -- 15,000 years ago. They had three genetic changes that specialized them for domestication -- "tamability", a tendency to bark (wolves can bark but hardly ever do), and a knack for reading human body language. The combination of these traits made dogs indispensable, and they spread across Eurasia in the blink of an eye. The initiative for domestication probably sprang from the wolves themselves (Wade explains why). This is just a tiny sample of the book; there's a lot more like it.

How did I get here?.......2007-07-31

An interesting explanation of human evolution based on genetic discoveries. If you want to know why you look the way you do, live where you live, talk and behave the way you do this book provides some answers. Many interesting insights into modern animal and human societies. This book covers a lot of ground in an understandable way.

Molecular Markers, Natural History, and Evolution

Average customer rating:

Obligatory reading!
Great.

Molecular Markers, Natural History, and Evolution
John C. Avise
Manufacturer: Sinauer Associates
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0878930418

Book Description

Molecular markers have opened exciting new windows through which to view the natural biological world. This treatment addresses the many applications for genetic markers (from polymorphic proteins and DNA) from the perspectives of population biology, behavioral ecology, organismal evolution, and phylogeny. Opening chapters review the history and purview of molecular approaches, and compare and contrast various laboratory techniques for revealing molecular markers. Subsequent chapters review the extensive scientific literature of molecular ecology and evolution, and describe a cornucopia of captivating discoveries about nature's workings, past and present.

The book is taxonomically balanced with numerous examples from plants, animals, and microbes. It is also temporally balanced with examples ranging from assessments of genetic parentage and kinship in the most recent generations to phylogenetic assessments deep in the Tree of Life (and nearly everything in-between). This Second Edition of a seminal work (first published in 1994) brings the reader up-to-date on the many dramatic advances and insights made over the last decade. Furthermore, by retaining descriptions of many pioneering works, this book also traces the empirical and conceptual roots of each subject, and thereby provides a rich sense of the field's history.

Appropriate for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scientists in such disciplines as ecology, genetics, population biology, ethology, molecular biology, systematics, and conservation biology, this new edition is for anyone interested in the application of molecular markers to organisms in the wild.

Customer Reviews:

Obligatory reading!.......2005-04-05

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the use of molecular markers in evolution, ecology and phylogeny. Very well written, this second edition brings important updates to a field in fast progress.

Great........1998-09-27

Excelent book, full of diverse examples. Excelent to read too. Full of very interesting informations. Everyone who is interested at the subject should read it.

Fly: The Unsung Hero of Twentieth Century Science

Average customer rating:

Fly
Great Historical Overview of 20th Century Biology
I highly recommend this book.
Interesting, fun, yet informative..
A Lightweight Intro to Modern Exprimental Genetics

Fly: The Unsung Hero of Twentieth Century Science
Martin Brookes
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0066212510

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana, and biologists like fruit flies. Evolutionary geneticist and science journalist Martin Brookes explores the not-quite-microscopic world of Drosophila in Fly: The Unsung Hero of 20th-Century Science. Instantly familiar to any student of high school biology, the fruit fly is one of the most thoroughly studied organisms in the world; far more is known about its genetics and behavior than about those of our own species. Brookes tackles his tiny subjects with an enthusiastic wit, sharing tales of his own and others' lab work dating back to the 19th century. As his story unfolds, the spirit of scientific investigation shines through, with all its reliance on blind chance and quirky obsessions.

Back in the late 1970's, extreme mutants were all the rage. Take a trip round a hip and happening fruit fly laboratory and you might have been forgiven for thinking that you had stumbled across a fruit fly house of horrors. In the search for new mutants, flies were being force-fed mutagenic chemicals and were leaving a trail of disfigured descendants in their wake.

The interested reader will get insight not just into the scientific process, but also into the life of the fly itself. Birth, death, mating, learning--just about every aspect of the creature's life has been documented meticulously, and that level of detail can't help but yield some juicy bits. Though we find their feeding habits distasteful and their courtship maddeningly complex, maybe flies aren't so different from us, after all. Brookes's enthusiasm is catching, and Fly will send readers running to their kitchens to catch a glimpse of these scientific superstars. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

There's a buzz in the air, the sound of a billion wings vibrating to the tune of scientific success. In biology labs across the world, fruit flies are turning up answers to some of the basic questions of life. It's business as usual for the fly, which for generations has been defining biology's major landmarks. From genetics to development, behavior to aging, and evolution to the origin of species, the fruit fly has been a key player in some of the twentieth century's greatest biological discoveries.Techniques to pinpoint genes that play a role in human disease depend on genetic mapmaking principles first established with the fly. It was experiments on fruit flies that opened our eyes to the dangers of radiation to human health. In fact, everything from gene therapy to cloning to the Human Genome Project is built on the foundation of fruit fly research. Despite its many achievements, the fruit fly remains an unsung hero in the history of science. At last, here is a book that gives the fly its long overdue credit.In a highly original, witty, and irreverent style, Martin Brookes takes us through successive stages in the life cycle of the fly, each illustrating an important concept in biology. Some, such as the fundamentals of heredity, are well established; others, such as sexual warfare, learning, and memory, are still in their infancy. But whether flies are getting high on crack cocaine, enjoying the pleasures and pains of a boozy night out, being trained by punishment and reward, or struggling with insomnia, this book provides a glimpse of how one short life has informed almost every aspect of human existence. The result is a broad introduction to biology with insights into the practical realities of science.Often dismissed as irrelevant outside academic circles, the fruit fly, through this distinctive biography, will come to be recognized for what it really is: an icon of twentieth-century science and a window on our own biological world.

Customer Reviews:

Fly .......2007-01-07

An interesting book, a bit light on the details. Light hearted view of fly genetics, an easy read, certainly worth a look. Not being a carbon based lifeform, I find it a bit difficult to relate to, but interesting non the less. ;-) RR

Great Historical Overview of 20th Century Biology.......2005-10-16

I very much enjoyed this book. It was a fascinating overview of 20th century biology and genetics and had many vivid illustrations of the principals of evolution. The book was stuffed full of amusing anecdotes that helped the non-scientist understand scientific concepts. The anecdotes also help make a book that could have dry fascinating.

Brookes is a surprisingly good writer with a wry sense of humor. He has a unique ability to put complicated concepts into a context the layman can understand.

The book uses the history of the fruit fly research to illustrate the major theme in genetics, evolution, and biology. ALong the way Brookes corrects a number of popular misconception, such as the definition of a species as a population with "intrinsic barriers which prevented them from interbreeding with other species." I had no idea that this definition was in dispute. The section on the Hawaiian Islands as a natural evolutionary laboratory on par with the Galapagos was also quite interesting.

I greatly enjoyed this book and learned a great deal. I heartily recommend it and am anxious to find other works by this author.

I highly recommend this book. .......2005-08-18

This is the best science writing I've read in a long time. Martin Brookes does an amazing job of weaving together the history and science behind the fruit fly and making it incredibly interesting.

The fruit fly has been a key player in the advancement of evolutionary biology, genetics, and developmental biology during the past century. Brookes manages to follow the story of the fruit fly from lab to lab, telling jokes and interesting anecdotes along the way.

By the end of the book, the reader is convinced that the seemingly uninportant and pesky fruit fly is not only irreplacable in science, but can somehow tell us something about our own lives.

I highly recommend this book not only to scientists and science students, but to the layperson who wants to learn some basic biology and some scientific history.

Interesting, fun, yet informative.........2003-09-12

I'm doing research with fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) myself. And this book was very interesting - telling me the hidden stories of genetics I didn't know, which I couldn't get from scientific journals. I think it's a great book for both laymen and scientists.

A Lightweight Intro to Modern Exprimental Genetics.......2003-07-28

This is the very interesting history of the research of genetics, evolution, and biology using the very versatile tool Drosophilia melanogaster. However, it is written for a non-scientific audience. There are numerous puns and jokes about the humble fruit fly and the explanation of genes and alleles is reduced to an analogy of shoes on people's feet. This may help people who have absolutly no science background understand the subject, but I found the poor analogies to be distracting.

On the other hand, the history was absorbing. How were maps of genes created before fancy sequencing machines? The answer lies in the close study of thousands of generations of fruit flys and studying their mutations. Many discoveries of basic genes that are present in all life forms are first found in the fruit fly. Many more discoveries are yet to be made.

Average customer rating:

Good introduction to anthropology

good account of human history

genes, languages, prehistoric human migrations

Good, but no clear objective.

Really good, I Recommend it

The Great Human Diasporas: The History of Diversity and Evolution (Helix Books)
Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza , and Francesco Cavalli-Sforza
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Genes, Peoples, and Languages

Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

The History and Geography of Human Genes: (Abridged paperback edition)

Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project

ASIN: 0201442310

Amazon.com

The title The Great Human Diasporas implies that this book is a history of human migration, but it is much more. It is a readable, accessible summary of the lifework of Luca Cavalli-Sforza, who has done more than anyone else to reveal the genetic makeup of human populations. Originally written in Italian with Cavalli-Sforza's filmmaker son Francesco, it maintains some qualities of an interview: The Great Human Diasporas is full of anecdotes about the Pygmies with whom Cavalli-Sforza works, the text is frequently personal yet not self-serving, and it clearly shows how he helped tie together population genetics, linguistics, and anthropology to offer a new, non-racist view of human diversity.

Customer Reviews:

Good introduction to anthropology.......2006-02-25

This is a book covering a wide range of topics relating to anthropology. Cavalli-Sforza tells of his experiences with African Pygmies in the Congo, and relates these experiences to ideas as to what hunter-gatherer life was like. He explains the discovery and history of the theory of evolution, and explains the human tree. The spread and migration of humans since the dawn of their evolution is described in good detail. Molecular biology is easily explained. He also describes theories of agriculture's emergence and significance. Cavalli-Sforza juxtaposes what we know of human migrations from DNA with what we know from linguistic evidence. He also discusses cultural anthropology and the concept of race. It is impressive that Cavalli-Sforza has such a good command of a wide range of subjects.

The book is a good read, especially for the layman. Overall, it is an account of humanity's evolution viewed from a variety of fields.

good account of human history.......2002-10-27

Great Huaman Diaspporas covers the history of humanity from its origins in Africa and how it spread through different parts of the world. It goes into homo saphiens forefathers and how homo saphiens forefathers evolved into modern man. It also deals with how gene environments influenced genes. It also deals with how language language and race developed.

Overall, a account of how humanity developed it in terms of genes, race and langage.

genes, languages, prehistoric human migrations.......2002-09-22

The most rewarding part of this popular science book is the middle, fifth to seventh chapters, in which Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Professor of Genetics at Stanford Medical School, draws on scientific research in human population genetics, in which he has been a well respected pioneer, to describe the migration of human populations beginning about 100,000 years ago out of Africa until recent times. Because patterns of genetic and linguistic evolution exhibit high intercorrelations--even though their respective elements and mechanics differ--he also cites linguistic evidence for this account of migratory prehistory.

The most valuable contribution of this book to popular understanding is that population genetics provides possibly the best though not sole scientific basis on which to construct the prehistory of human "races." By this evidence, we learn, for example, about the migration of modern Homo sapiens to Southeast Asia and Australia approximately 55,000 to 60,000 years ago or about the spread of Neolithic farmer-cultivators from the Middle East into Europe beginning about 9,000 to 10,000 years ago. I suspect that readers unfamiliar with modern human evolution will find the genetic tree of the world's populations on page 119 intriguing. The diagram shows, for example, that Northeast Asians are more closely related to Europeans than Northeast Asians are to Southeast Asians.

For as rapidly advancing a science as human population genetics, it should not be surprising that some findings are dated. Recent evidence suggests, for instance, that North Asians descended from both southern China populations that gradually migrated northward as well as Caucasian populations that migrated eastward, so that some genetic mixing all across North Asia took place and is the source of the observed racial connections between North Asians and Caucasians.

In other chapters, Cavalli-Sforza tackles related topics somewhat unevenly. His anecdotes about the African pygmies are light and sympathetic. While his description of the hominid line is accurate for the time of publication, there are more insightful not to mention updated accounts now in print. His discussion of the links between genes and culture is engaging and humane but from the standpoint of science, no better than educated. His rejoinder to the controversial The Bell Curve (1994) is scientifically persuasive.

I very much enjoyed reading this book, the first I purchased at amazon.com.

Good, but no clear objective........2002-05-29

Much interesting material, and some difficult concepts explained clearly for the general lay person. However, the book has no clear objective. It is best read as a supplement to the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Jared Diamond, "Guns, Germs and Steel".

Really good, I Recommend it.......2002-05-15

Ok, this will be a short one. The book is really good, I recommend it vastly. As a molecular biologist I am impressed with the expertise of L. L. Cavalli-Sforza in varios areas of science. He does not only manage to comunicate in an easy manner the complexities of genetics and molecular biology (related to this subject), but also accomplishes to clarify lots of linguistic information gathered through his life studies. This last topic was the hardest for me to understand, though I believe language studies are not easy. So, as said in the beginning, this book is highly recommended.

Phylogeography: The History and Formation of Species

Average customer rating:

Yes, does accomplish what it sets out to do...
A good overview

Phylogeography: The History and Formation of Species
John C. Avise
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0674666380

Book Description

Phylogeography is a discipline concerned with various relationships between gene genealogies--phylogenetics--and geography. The word "phylogeography" was coined in 1987, and since then the scientific literature has reflected an exploding interest in the topic. Yet, to date, no book-length treatment of this emerging field has appeared. Phylogeography: The History and Formation of Species fills that gap.

The study of phylogeography grew out of the observation that mitochondrial DNA lineages in natural populations often display distinct geographic orientations. In recent years, the field has expanded to include assessments of nuclear as well as cytoplasmic genomes and the relationships among gene trees, population demography, and organismal history, often formalized as coalescent theory. Phylogeography has connections to molecular evolutionary genetics, natural history, population biology, paleontology, historical geography, and speciation analysis.

Phylogeography captures the conceptual and empirical richness of the field, and also the sense of genuine innovation that phylogeographic perspectives have brought to evolutionary studies.

This book will be essential reading for graduate students and professionals in evolutionary biology and ecology as well as for anyone interested in the emergence of this new and integrative discipline.

Customer Reviews:

Yes, does accomplish what it sets out to do..........2006-03-30

...and for the same reason, I feel deserves 5 stars. This book is on the shelf of all (grad students like myself) who work with phylogeography for a reason: It is complete, and it the first book to grab when starting a project of the sort. Very useful, however lacking in the details one must pick up later to execute analyses.

A good overview.......2001-12-18

This book accomplishes what it sets out to do, synthesize existing material into a simplified text. If you are looking for a good overview, this is a good book. If you are looking for mathmatical detail and methods, this may not be the book for you.

Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life (Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology)

Average customer rating:

A hic-up revision
Well written, but unnecessarily long
Evolution in Four Dimensions
Great Book. Wish it Were Better.
What goes around comes around

Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life (Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology)
Eva Jablonka , and Marion J. Lamb
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0262600692

Book Description

Ideas about heredity and evolution are undergoing a revolutionary change. New findings in molecular biology challenge the gene-centered version of Darwinian theory according to which adaptation occurs only through natural selection of chance DNA variations. In Evolution in Four Dimensions, Eva Jablonka and Marion Lamb argue that there is more to heredity than genes. They trace four "dimensions" in evolution -- four inheritance systems that play a role in evolution: genetic, epigenetic (or non-DNA cellular transmission of traits), behavioral, and symbolic (transmission through language and other forms of symbolic communication). These systems, they argue, can all provide variations on which natural selection can act. Evolution in Four Dimensions offers a richer, more complex view of evolution than the gene-based, one-dimensional view held by many today. The new synthesis advanced by Jablonka and Lamb makes clear that induced and acquired changes also play a role in evolution.

After discussing each of the four inheritance systems in detail, Jablonka and Lamb "put Humpty Dumpty together again" by showing how all of these systems interact. They consider how each may have originated and guided evolutionary history and they discuss the social and philosophical implications of the four-dimensional view of evolution. Each chapter ends with a dialogue in which the authors engage the contrarieties of the fictional (and skeptical) "I.M.," or Ifcha Mistabra -- Aramaic for "the opposite conjecture" -- refining their arguments against I.M.'s vigorous counterarguments. The lucid and accessible text is accompanied by artist-physician Anna Zeligowski's lively drawings, which humorously and effectively illustrate the authors' points.

Customer Reviews:

A hic-up revision.......2007-05-13

The refreshing part of the book is that Darwin is postulated to trump the Modern Synthesis by offering a broader and vaguer model. Mostly however, allusions and overinterpretations of re-hashed phenomena and a few recent twists like siRNA, are offered as still-unconvincing examples in a systematic attempt to argue epigenetics as having important biological and evolutionary roles. Yes, some aspects of biology and evolution are somewhat complex, but vague hand waving about epigenetics does not clarify them.

Well written, but unnecessarily long.......2007-03-26

This book provides a comprehensive but not overly technical survey of our state of knowledge as to how evolution proceeds and, in particular, why change is not totally random. They point out that there is an evolutionary bias to select organisms whose DNA is conducive to evolution, because they are more likely to have "random" mutations which are favorable; that mutation rates increase under stress such as a change in the environment; that the folding properties of DNA insure that it is the more active sections of DNA that are likely to have mutations.

The thrust of this book, however, and the material most likely to be unfamiliar to lay students of the subject, is in support of a neo-Lamarckian viewpoint, in which environment can more directly impact inheritable change. There is one beautiful experiment which illustrates the neo-Larmarckian view, with flies: stress causes genetic mutation resulting, in some flies, in a particular deformity; if these flies are selected for further breeding (as if that mutation were a successful adaptation), and this is done for 16 generations, you finally get flies which have this deformity in the absence of the stressor. The theory is that organisms accumulate genetic differences which do not impact phenotype, in fact phenotypes tend to be insensitive to many mutations, but once there is sufficient environmental stress these genetic differences manifest themselves.

While epigenetics is a hot topic in the study of development, this book makes a case for epigenetic mutation as a basis for evolution. It also talks about what I would term a generalization of cultural inheritance wherein the inherited behavior does not depend on teaching or watching: for example, a young rabbit learns what is good to eat through the effects in the womb of what his mother eats, and what is in the mother's feces while the youngster is in the burrow.

The authors write very well, and are clearly mindful of the reader's comprehension. The discussion of the material at the end of each chapter is a wonderful idea. Still, I would have preferred a shorter work, without so much emphasis on philosophical subtleties: an idea like the "selfish gene" is not a scientific theory to be debated, but a way of looking at things which can be suggestive and lead to new findings, but of course has its limitations. A picture, or an experiment, is worth a thousand words. Currently, unfortunately, the evidence to support the book's ideas is often thin, in fact one objective of the authors is certainly to encourage more research. In one very interesting case they seem to make too little of the evidence: the author's accept that a young bonobo, watching experimenters teaching language to his mother, developed the understanding of a 2.5 year old human, including word order and other grammatical structures, but did not mention this in their initial discussions of language or really come to terms with it.

Evolution in Four Dimensions.......2007-01-10

With this book the authors expand the conventional 20th century view of the theory of evolution to include epigenetic, psychological and sociological evolution. The most interesting "inherited" addition for me is epigenetic evolution: the theory that many of our human qualities were passed down from ancestors without involving genetic variation. I can myself think of candidate markers that would best fit into the authors's theory. All in all, the book is very well written; my only criticism is that I could have done without some of the stick-figure drawings. But it is still a very good read for anyone who thinks evolution is a well-established scientific fact and who is not afraid to intellectually challenge the majority-held belief in the "absolute" truths of religious doctrines and dogma.

Great Book. Wish it Were Better........2006-09-25

This is such a good book, I wish it were better. In particular, I wish that the authors had not spent so much time discussing the effects of informational and symbolic transmission on evolution (most of which is fairly obvious) and spent more time on the fascinating topics of epigentic transmission and genetic control systems, which are extremely complex and difficult issues, and go by too fast.

The authors pose a question that evolutionary scholar rarely broach: If evolution produces and preserves adaptive traits, why does it not produce the trait that is the most adaptive of all -- the ability to directly transmit acquired adaptive characteristics to offspring? Ironically, despite their qualified claim that organisims do have such an ability, the authors provide an excellent Darwinian reason why this trait is so limited -- because a species which possesses it (like, say, humans) is so likely to "crash and burn" if it mistakenly adopts a trait which turns out to be maladaptive.

Jablonski and her co-author are neo-Lamarkians; that is, they believe (or want to believe) in the inheritance of acquired characterists. Lamarkism is deeply distrusted by evolutionary biologists for two very good reasons: there is not much evidence for it, and a mechanism for transmitting acquired characteristics seems biochemically impossible. The authors present some good arguments why this might not be so. Particulary impressive is their discussion of epigenetics -- biochemical processess not involving genes which nonethelesss affect an organism's development. Epigenetic processes pretty clearly can be affected by environmental factors, and so environmental factors do have a direct impact on bodily devlopment, and hence evolution. More relevantly, epigentic developments can apparently be directly incorporated into the organism's germ line (the system which involves reproduction), and hence heredity, without the necessity of mutation. This issue is deep and difficult probably deserved a whole book of its own.

The writing is clear and the illustrations are helpful, if a bit "cute." This book is a wonderful introduction to a problematical subject. Persons who are suspicious of classical Darwinism, but suspect that intelligent design theory is nonsense will love this book.

What goes around comes around.......2006-02-19

In 1829 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who wrote voluminous evolutionary ideas, was buried, virtually penniless, in a rented grave. There was no rest for the weary or the dead when decades later August Weismann cut off the tails of twenty-two generations of mice, discrediting Lamarck's idea of acquired characteristics and driving yet another nail into the poor man's coffin. (For more about Lamarck's life and ideas see J. B. Lamarck, Zoological Philosophy, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1984 and the insightful comments by Richard W. Burkhardt and David Hull therein).

As Lamarck was interred, his daughter remarked that the future would avenge him. It appears that time has come. Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb's Evolution in Four Dimensions provides an extraordinary explication and synthesis of hereditary mechanisms (genetic, epigenetic, behavioral and symbolic) that may be called Neo-Lamarckian - the set of ideas that extend heritable, adaptive changes beyond natural selection to include "...internal (evolved) systems that generate "intelligent guesses" in response to the conditions of life." (p. 361). The mechanisms Jablonka and Lamb explore include, but go well beyond, the 20th century concepts that locked inheritance inside Mendel's merkmal or Crick's Central Dogma or Morgan's Drosophila chromosomes and observable traits. In so doing, the authors make an important contribution to the 21st century paradigm about heredity that is a-building. (Other contributions include: Mary Jane West-Eberhard's Developmental Plasticity and Evolution, Oxford Univ. Press, 2003; Massimo Pigliucci's Phenotypic Plasticity, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2001; Gilbert Gottlieb's Synthesizing Nature-Nurture, Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997).

Dr. Jablonka, Professor of Biology at the acclaimed Cohn Institute in Israel and Ms. Lamb, formerly Senior Lecturer, Birkbeck College, University of London, extend the ideas in their previous work (Epigenetic Inheritance and Evolution, Oxford Univ. Press, 1995; The changing concept of epigenetics, New York Academy of Sciences, 2002, 981, 82-96.) The book is divided into three parts. In the first, the authors provide a fine summary of the modern development of evolutionary ideas, and the most detailed and extensive description of genetic mechanisms that I have found in a book aimed at a general readership. Almost certainly, anyone reading Chapter Two (From Genes to Characters) and Chapter Three (Genetic Variation: Blind, Directed, Interpretive?) will eschew conventional notions of "The gene for...." that are everyday fare in the media.

Chapter Four on epigenetics brings us back to those long-suffering mouse families whose tails were chopped off. As the experiments Jablonka and Lamb cite here indicate, had Herr Docktor Weismann manipulated a molecule during development, instead of a machete, he would have been able to alter the intergenerational transfer of characters. Chapter Five describes and analyzes behavioral inheritance systems particularly social learning and Chapter Six does the same for symbolic inheritance systems including cultural evolution and symbolic communication. Chapter Seven integrates genetic and epigenetic inheritance systems. Chapter Eight accomplishes the same for genes, behavior and language. Chapter Nine presents a Neo-Lamarckian perspective on heredity and evolutionary theory that might well have warmed Charles Darwin's heart because it is based on a closely reasoned collection of empirical data rather than the less well grounded speculations that are associated with Lamarck. Throughout, the authors take us on an intellectual journey from inside the cell up the abstraction ladder to the cultures we live in. For a related treatment cf. A.R. Cellura, The Genomic Environment and Niche-Experience, Cedar Springs Press, 2005.

There are two other features of Evolution in Four Dimensions that are particularly noteworthy. Implicit in most modern scientific theorizing is the notion of challenging hypotheses that Popper made idiomatic with his Conjectures and Refutations (Harper & Row, 1963). Consistent with this, Jablonka and Lamb aim at further insight through a dialogue at the end of each chapter between Ifcha Mistabra (Aramaic for opposite conjecture) and themselves. Also, it would be hugely neglectful not to mention the imp that got out of the ink bottle - the delightful drawings of Anna Zeligowski that illustrate key points in the text.

Evolution in Four Dimensions is a jewel readily accessible to educated readers with an interest in human adaptation over the short and the long haul.

Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology, Evolution

Average customer rating:

The best of the current texts available

Animal Behavior: Mechanisms, Ecology, Evolution
Lee C Drickamer , Stephen H Vessey , and Elizabeth Jakob
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0070121990

Book Description

Designed for a one-semester introductory course in Animal Behavior. Animal behavior is a broad discipline with investigators and contributions from diverse perspectives, including anthropology, comparative psychology, ecology, ethology, physiology, and zoology. The authors goal in this textbook is to use evolutionary principles as a unifying theme to provide students exposure to a number of approaches to the field of animal behavior. They also demonstrate that the varied perspectives used to study behavior are complementary and often integrated; they are not mutually exclusive. The subtitle, “Mechanisms, Ecology, and Evolution,” reflects the broad themes that dominate the book.

Customer Reviews:

The best of the current texts available.......1999-09-28

I have used this as a text and have found it to be the best available. It is well written and is easily understood by undergraduate students, without talking down to them. Its incorporation of ecology and evolution is particularly important and useful. The examples work well in giving a complete picture. The practical emphasis on how behaviors are studied and measured helps to interest students in research and equip them to evaluate new information.

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The Journey of Genetics
Very interesting thesis, very readable
The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
Clear explication of a still uncertain theory
We all wonder where we come from . . .

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
Spencer Wells
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 069111532X

Amazon.com

Spencer Wells traces human evolution back to our very first ancestor in The Journey of Man. 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 Homo sapiens. 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 The Journey of Man a perfect primer. --Therese Littleton

Book Description

Around 60,000 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 many sizes, shapes, and races?

Showing how the secrets about our ancestors are hidden in our genetic code, Spencer Wells reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. We now know not only where our ancestors lived but who they fought, loved, and influenced.

Informed by this new science, The Journey of Man is replete with astonishing information. Wells tells us that we can trace our origins back to a single Adam and Eve, but that Eve came first by some 80,000 years. We hear how the male Y-chromosome has been used to trace the spread of humanity from Africa into Eurasia, why differing racial types emerged when mountain ranges split population groups, and that the San Bushmen of the Kalahari have some of the oldest genetic markers in the world. We learn, finally with absolute certainty, that Neanderthals are not our ancestors and that the entire genetic diversity of Native Americans can be accounted for by just ten individuals.

It is an enthralling, epic tour through the history and development of early humankind--as well as an accessible look at the analysis of human genetics that is giving us definitive answers to questions we have asked for centuries, questions now more compelling than ever.

Customer Reviews:

The Journey of Genetics.......2007-09-11

The Journey of Man, recently recommended by a friend in Dallas, is a story of state-of-the-art genetic research to trace the geographic history of homo sapiens based on, as I understand it, polymorphisms or mutations in human DNA. The idea is that by identifying these and analyzing their frequency of occurance in various areas of the world, the sequence in which they occurred can be deduced and, thus, the associated physical path by which we populated the world can be identified. The conclusion is that homo sapiens began about 50,000 years ago in north-eastern Africa, then spread to Australia, etc. The thought process nicely ties in related data from archaeology, anthropology, and other sciences to support and/or refute the genetic results. A very good book, aimed at laymen and easy to read, although not particularly well-edited and sometimes over-uses analogies to the point that you wish he'd just go ahead and say it.

Very interesting thesis, very readable.......2007-01-11

The book presents, based on genetic, archeological, climatological evidence, a possible (or probable?) route for the dispersion of men through our planet, from its birth in Africa. The evidence is clearly presented, in an organized and very understandable way. It makes a very interesting reading on a subject that is as appealing as it is controversial.

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey.......2006-11-10

If you have ever questioned where Adam and Eve started and how planet earth was populated this is a must read. Doctor Wells located the oldest Africans he could find,took blood samples, then using his DNA knowledge, produced DNA markers. He continued this process around the world and by examining the DNA markers he could determine the path of primitive people and where they started. He produced a readable technical book that leaves the lay person with a clear understanding of where we started and where and when the first Adam and Eve left the trees and stood up on two feet.

Clear explication of a still uncertain theory.......2006-10-31

Not much more than 50,000 years ago, something happened in East Africa that set humans on the move, and by about 10,000 years ago they had occupied almost every place on Earth, though it took another 9,000 years or so to get to the really good spots like Maui.
At least, that is how geneticist Spencer Wells interprets the evidence. The very short time span requires severe revision of the archaeological evidence.
Fully modern human bones have been found in Israel that are dated to about 100,000 years ago. Although equally modern fossils don't show up in Europe for another 60,000 years or so, the assumption has been that man's move out of Africa began at least 100,000 years ago.
Using changes in the molecular structure of the Y-chromosome, Wells and other geneticists believe that something -- he calls it the First Big Bang -- happened to a human, who lived somewhere in or near Ethiopia, around 50,000-60,000 years ago. That something did not show up in our skeletons but did mark the final evolutionary step to our current level of ability.
It could have been behavioral, although Wells is inclined to think it was some form of structural change in the brain that was closely tied to the beginning of language.
The new capabilities then made it possible to survive in novel habitats, and worsening climatic conditions in East Africa made it desirable to find some.
Genetics tells us we are all very closely related -- there is hardly any variation in our genes as between "races," a doubtful concept in human taxonomy anyway.
Variation piles up over time, particularly in long stretches of DNA that are, so far as anybody has been able to determine, inactive.
When a small band of people move, they take with them only a tiny fraction of the total variation of their larger group. Therefore, the more variation today within a local group, the longer it has been intact.
There is more variation on the Y-chromosomes of the men in an African village than among all the men in the rest of the world. Therefore, humans originated in Africa.
Geneticists believe they can not only measure but time these changes, although the timing is dependent on various assumptions that are uncertain to a degree. The goal of researchers like Wells is to interpret the gene sequences to fit other, paleontological or climatological, data without torturing the evidence too much.
The Y-chromosome determines male sex and therefore passes down from father to son. There is a strictly female record of descent in our cells, too, the mitochondrial DNA; but there is much less of it, so changes on the Y give much more precision in measuring mutations.
In "The Journey of Man," geneticists deduce that around 50,000 years ago, Africans started migrating, sticking to the coastal areas they already knew how to exploit. Within 10,000 years, they were in Australia.
We humans spread quickly but not equally quickly in every direction. In some areas, humans had to wait tens of thousands of years for the slow processes of climate to open up desert and mountain barriers that were too hard to cross.
Thus, Europe was settled very late, despite its closeness to Africa.
The same evidence says modern humans replaced Neanderthal humans; we did not descend from them.
The Y evidence also tends to shoot down evidence -- already equivocal -- that put humans in the New World more than about 12,000 years ago.
And it demonstrates, Wells says, some unexpected relationships. For example, northern Han Chinese are more closely related to their northern neighbors than they are to southern Han Chinese, despite the closer connection of their language dialects.
These various lines of evidence should allow us to retrace our ancestral steps, says Wells, but "many indigenous peoples are now refusing to participate in scientific studies."
He regrets this, not only professionally, but because the Third Big Bang -- the transportation revolution that is mixing up populations more than ever before -- will within a couple of generations obliterate the kind of genetic sleuthing that made "The Journey of Man" possible.
The Second Big Bang was agriculture, and that, he says, led humans to Hawaii. Hunter-gatherers had to go where the food was; Polynesian navigators could choose where to sail.
Wells' explication of what researchers like Wells think they know is first rate. I remain somewhat skeptical about the accuracy of the so-called molecular genetic clocks. Therefore, 3 stars. if the doubts about the 'clock' are resolved in the favor of Wells et al., then the rating would bump up to 4.

We all wonder where we come from . . ........2006-09-01

. . . and Spencer Wells provides many of the answers. Those of you who have seen his National Geographic special, also entitled _The Journey of Man_, will recognize the outline of this book, an exploration of what our genes (and those of people around the world) tell us about where and when our species got started, and how and when people occupied just about every part of the world. The book is able to go into far more detail, presenting clearly and convincingly our relatively recent African origins and the timing and likely routes of the migrations that brought modern humans to Australia, Europe and Asia, and, more recently, to the Americas and Polynesia. Along the way you'll learn why our genes clearly show that the Neandertals were cousins, but not ancestors, and that today's geographic "races" are far too closely related to have evolved from ancient to modern human form independently. The book is graced by pages of striking photos of people from around the globe, which add greatly to the fascinating scientific story that Wells tells. If you're at all interested in human origins, this is a must read. Robert Adler, author of _Science Firsts_ and _Medical Firsts_.

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