|
Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project | 
 enlarge | Author: Spencer Wells
Publisher: National Geographic
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $3.99
You Save: $20.01 (83%)
New (36) Used (21) Collectible (4) from $2.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 146156
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0792262158
Dewey Decimal Number: 599.935
EAN: 9780792262152
ASIN: 0792262158
Publication Date: November 21, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships immediately! Perfect and New! 2006 Hardcover.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Science tells us we're all related—one vast family sharing a common ancestor who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago. But countless questions remain about our great journey from the birthplace of Homo sapiens to the ends of the Earth. How did we end up where we are? When did we get there? Why do we display such a wide range of colors and features? The fossil record offers some answers, but exciting new genetic research reveals many more, since our DNA carries a complete chronicle of our species and its migrations.
In Deep Ancestry, scientist and explorer Spencer Wells shows how tiny genetic changes add up over time into a fascinating story. Using scores of real-life examples, helpful analogies, and detailed diagrams and illustrations, he translates complicated concepts into accessible language and explains exactly how each and every individual's DNA contributes another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of human history. The book takes readers inside the Genographic Project, the landmark study now assembling the world's largest collection of population genetic DNA samples and employing the latest in testing technology and computer analysis to examine hundreds of thousands of genetic profiles from all over the globe.
Traveling backward through time from today's scattered billions to the handful of early humans who are ancestors to us all, Deep Ancestry shows how universal our human heritage really is. It combines sophisticated science with our compelling interest in family history and ethnic identity—and transcends humankind's shallow distinctions and superficial differences to touch the depths of our common origins.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Great Information! Great Work! August 12, 2008
This is a great complement to the Seven Daughters Of Eve. The story of where we, the human race, originated is so essential to understand! This book details not only this but how his and his colleagues' work are helping people get back to their roots.
They are helping people understand where they came from - their 'belonging' in this world. What a great thing to do!
More importantly, this shows how we are all interconnected and really is a death-blow to racism in all its forms.
 Read Journey and Forget This One June 17, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Most of the info in this book is a rehash of the history of genetic biology that Wells covered in his first book. He tells you what he is doing with the new data gathering, but if you read the first book, you will quickly become bored. Wells is brilliant and like Brian Sykes, he is doing important work in unravelling our ancestral past. Unfortunately, Wells is better at telling you what he doing rather than writing about it.
The man often takes two or three pages to explain something that should only take one or two paragraphs to explain adequately. I find that overly pedantic. This is common practice for most academics.
Wells also made a passive/aggressive political comment that I found to be irksome in a book about genetic anthropology. He said "I met with President Clinton at the end of his second term when the President was still arguably the most powerful man in the world." I've got news for Spence. The President of the United States is still the most powerful man in the world and it's not arguable. The U.S. is the most powerful economy in the world and Bush's policies helped to add an enormous amount of wealth to everyone in the world. We produce twenty five percent of the world's GDP with less than five percent of the planet's population. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military in the world and he can project our country's military power anywhere on this globe. It is not arguable. I know Wells spent several years at Cambridge that is still a hotbed of English communism, but I expected a little more common sense from a true genius prodigy.
While the first book was good if a little tiresome, the second book is a real snore. Wells is much better talking on film. I recommend his DVDs and the first book, but the money saved on this one could be better spent on Sykes' Seven Daughters of Eve.
Interesting and educational May 21, 2008
I have to admit this is a subject that already interested me but I was very impressed with the writing style and how fun it has been to read! Written almost like a fun story but with very interesting and understandable science behind it.
 Wells coats his science in political correctness April 26, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
While his books are interesting, one thing that becomes abundantly clear to anyone with a working knowledge of ancestral genetics is that Wells goes out of his way to preach "we are all the same" and "race is meaningless". While both statements have an element of truth to them, they don't tell the whole story. Good scientific writers don't try to push a message. Rather, they lay the facts out and allow the reader to do with it what they will. There are very real, empirical genetic differences between ethnic groups--an indisputable fact embraced by serious medical geneticists. This may make some people uncomfortable and provide ammunition for racial bigotry, but playing a shell game with facts does a disservice to science and humanity.
Good things sometimes come in small packages April 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Deep Ancestry is the story of us. Or the story of how scientists are figuring out the story of us.
Meant to be an introduction to the National Geographic's Genographic Project, Deep Ancestry provides a summary of the complicated genetic discoveries being made by researchers every day.
Author Spencer Wells uses real life people's stories to introduce concepts like haplogroups and population genetics in order to break up the technobabble that cannot really be avoided without entirely dumbing down the ideas he's trying to convey.
A good chunk of the end of the book is a detailed appendix with entries describing each haplogroup (Y chromosome and mtDNA), including all the various markers that point the way to the groups earliest common ancestor. This section seems best suited to those who have purchased a DNA testing kit and want to research their test results.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
