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.

For more information about the title The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, read the full description at Amazon.com, or see the following related books:

The Great Human Diasporas: The History of Diversity and Evolution (Helix Books) — 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 ...  > read more

Deep Ancestry: Inside The Genographic Project — Travel backward through time from today's scattered billions to the handful of early humans who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago and are ancestors to ...  > read more

The Seven Daughters of Eve — The national bestseller that reveals how we are descended from seven prehistoric women. One of the most dramatic stories of genetic discovery since ...  > read more

The Complete World of Human Evolution — A compelling, authoritative, and superbly illustrated account of the rise and eventual domination of our species. Human domination of the earth is ...  > read more

Author: Spencer Wells

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Date: Feb. 17, 2004

List Price:

$14.95

Discount Price:

$8.39

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