- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press (12 April 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0520228731
- ISBN-13: 978-0520228733
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.4 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,037,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having read the likes of Jared Diamond, Merrit Ruhlen, Sykes and Richard Dawkins in the past 6 months another name was always on the periphery, Luca Cavalli-Sforza. He has an abundance of experience on his subject and it shows in the book giving you enough detail to know how some of the current conclusions on Peoples, Genes and Languages have been derived. It is also very interesting to see how many of these apparent separate disciplines fit together to make a fairly coherent map of humanity, from where we originated and how we have diversifed.
The book isn't technical so it should appeal to most people and it certainly leaves you with a better appreciation of ourselves.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a very good popscience book. It explains in a simple way some of the methods that can be used to study and uncover the genetic as well as linguistic and cultural past of the human species. (Interestingly, it turns out that some of the methods for studying genetic change are similar to some of the methods for studying cultural and linguistic change, and that the history of genes can help us understand the history of languages and vice versa.) But the book does not just explain the methods, it also tells you what results these methods have yielded. That is, it tells you when (probably) modern humans came out of Africa, the way they colonised the whole planet, the way linguistic differentiation took place, etc. The book is well written and entertaining.
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was a bit disappointing. It's not a terrible book but it takes a great subject but doesn't manage to make it very exciting. I also found there was a lot of repetition as if each chapter had been written separately, perhaps as separately published articles. When you read the book straight through the repetition is tiresome. I noticed that the same critiscism was made of "Guns, Steel......" by Jared Diamond and I recently discovered that he had worked or studied with the Cavalli-Sforza.
If he wants to know how to write a popular book in this subject area he should read and learn from likes of Matt Ridley (Genome), Brian Sykes (The Seven Daughters of Eve) and Robert Winston (Human Instinct).
However, it is useful as a sort of reference book to see what his conclusions were, especially in the form of diagrams that chart the evolution of races, languages, agriculture, etc. I find myself going back to it occasionally.
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