Pandora's Seed
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Spencer Wells — explorer, geneticist, geographer, and author — takes us on an exciting tour of the last 10,000 years of our history in order to forewarn us of what we shall have to deal with in the next 50 years (Jared Diamond, Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Author Of Guns, Germs And Steel And Collapse )
Spencer Wells's writing combines a deep knowledge of the history of human evolution with a most engaging and lively manner of making that story come alive. Pandora’s Seed draws upon compelling anecdotes and moving personal narratives to crystallize a crucial turning point in the history of our species, the point at which modern human beings stop and look back at our long evolutionary trajectory, and confront squarely its dark side, its cost (Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University )
Spencer Wells has a provocate and timely message. He argues that we are at a critical juncture where our culture could destroy the very essence of what it means to be human ... Everyone with a stake in humanity’s future should read this book (Brian Fagan, Author Of The Great Warming And Cro-Magnon )
Spencer Wells's writing combines a deep knowledge of the history of human evolution with a most engaging and lively manner of making that story come alive. Pandora’s Seed draws upon compelling anecdotes and moving personal narratives to crystallize a crucial turning point in the history of our species, the point at which modern human beings stop and look back at our long evolutionary trajectory, and confront squarely its dark side, its cost (Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University )
Spencer Wells has a provocate and timely message. He argues that we are at a critical juncture where our culture could destroy the very essence of what it means to be human ... Everyone with a stake in humanity’s future should read this book (Brian Fagan, Author Of The Great Warming And Cro-Magnon )
Product Description
In The Journey of Man, renowned geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells traced human evolution back to our earliest ancestors, creating a remarkable and readable map of our distant past. Now, in his thrilling and thoughtful new book, he examines our cultural inheritance in order to find the turning point that led us to the path we are on today, one he believes we must veer from in order to survive.
Pandora’s Seed takes us on a powerful and provocative globe-trotting tour of human history, back to a seminal event roughly 10,000 years ago, when our species made a radical shift in its way of life: we became farmers rather than hunter-gatherers, setting in motion a momentous chain of events that could not have been foreseen at the time.
Although this decision to control our own food supply is what propelled us into the modern world, Wells demonstrates with the latest genetic and anthropological data that such a dramatic shift in lifestyle had a downside that we’re only beginning to recognize. Growing grain crops ultimately made the planet more crowded, sedentary and unhealthy. The expanding population and the need to apportion limiting resources such as water created hierarchies and inequalities. The desire to control — and no longer cooperate with — nature altered the concept of religion, making deities fewer and more influential, foreshadowing today’s fanaticisms. The proximity of humans and animals bred diseases that metastasized over time. Freedom of movement and choice were replaced by a pressure to work that is the forebear of anxiety and depression millions feel today. Wells then offers a hopeful prescription for altering a life to which we were always ill-suited, changing priorities and self-destructive appetites before it’s too late.
A riveting and accessible scientific detective story, Pandora’s Seed is an eye-opening book for anyone fascinated by the past and concerned about the future.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The enormous change brought about by the invention of agriculture is well documented. As Spencer Wells says in his book, Pandora's Seed, the transition to permanent settlements led "from villages to cities, which joined in empires with written records to pass on to future generations. What before was lost to posterity or decayed into vague myth was now written in stone." Numerous authors have dealt with this historical transition and its impact. (Probably one of the best such books is Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.) Mr Wells however has added a significant new dimension to the analysis. Humans guided the evolution of the plants and animals that they domesticated, but there is now genetic evidence that shows that humans were in turn themselves affected by these changes. Geneticists have now discovered numerous recent mutations to the human genome which resulted from the abrupt change in our environment and our diet. The story which the author develops explains in detail both the scope of these changes and the fact that the impact of those genetic mutations and the dramatic shift in the human environment is still unfolding. He goes on to consider the potential future impact of the tools which geneticists have now developed, which could permit designer children as in the movie Gattica. Thus the initial chapters of the book are powerful and enormously important.
Mr Wells is best when he is talking about genetic science, which he knows in depth. However, he also tackles issues such as our contemporary environmental challenge, psychiatric disorders and religious fundamentalism. I found these secondary discussions interesting in terms of the questions that are raised but ultimately they remain rather shallow and simplistic. For example he writes at length about the conflict between science and religion (or as he terms it mythos vs. logos) but he ends up sitting on the fence. I accept the dilemma that humans seek meaning as well as knowledge. But we need to take a position so as to sift away the myths of the past that frequently impair rather than enhance our capacity for adapting to the challenges of the contemporary world. Ultimately, as Karen Armstrong has written, humans will always tell myths just as they produce art. But the beauty of art (pun intended) is that art can provide meaning and depth to our lives without the risk of confusing it with knowledge or truth. Again Mr Wells analyzes the problem but leaves us stranded without direction.
In the final chapter the author summarizes the issues which suggest humanity is on an unsustainable and catastrophic course. He then proposes a `solution' by suggesting that we need to learn to `want less.' As a rallying call this slogan makes sense. But again it is a rather hollow call. The only realistic way we might bring about such a major change in the course of history is via regulation (and global regulation at that). The road to this goal will be arduous and will require that we build consensus, while defeating misplaced ideas and beliefs. Mr Wells has left us with just the slogan and no further practical guidance. But it is an important an important start and Pandora's Seed is an important book despite my few critical comments.
David Hillstrom
Author of The Bridge
Mr Wells is best when he is talking about genetic science, which he knows in depth. However, he also tackles issues such as our contemporary environmental challenge, psychiatric disorders and religious fundamentalism. I found these secondary discussions interesting in terms of the questions that are raised but ultimately they remain rather shallow and simplistic. For example he writes at length about the conflict between science and religion (or as he terms it mythos vs. logos) but he ends up sitting on the fence. I accept the dilemma that humans seek meaning as well as knowledge. But we need to take a position so as to sift away the myths of the past that frequently impair rather than enhance our capacity for adapting to the challenges of the contemporary world. Ultimately, as Karen Armstrong has written, humans will always tell myths just as they produce art. But the beauty of art (pun intended) is that art can provide meaning and depth to our lives without the risk of confusing it with knowledge or truth. Again Mr Wells analyzes the problem but leaves us stranded without direction.
In the final chapter the author summarizes the issues which suggest humanity is on an unsustainable and catastrophic course. He then proposes a `solution' by suggesting that we need to learn to `want less.' As a rallying call this slogan makes sense. But again it is a rather hollow call. The only realistic way we might bring about such a major change in the course of history is via regulation (and global regulation at that). The road to this goal will be arduous and will require that we build consensus, while defeating misplaced ideas and beliefs. Mr Wells has left us with just the slogan and no further practical guidance. But it is an important an important start and Pandora's Seed is an important book despite my few critical comments.
David Hillstrom
Author of The Bridge
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Fascinating! Got me to buy other Spencer Wells books. I could not put this book down until I had finished it. If you liked his previous books you will DEFINITELY love this one as the prior books are not quite as good. Excellent
Format:Hardcover
This book purports to be a synthesis of an enormous range of study - genetics, anthropology, history, medicine, and more - to explain the 'unforeseen cost of civilization'. Well it's certainly not that. Though it contains a lot of interesting material, it simply doesn't deal with the areas it covers in enough depth to achieve its aim. At a little over 200 pages, there just isn't enough room. I finished it feeling the author's conclusions weren't substantiated.
Also, the author's personal anecdotes throughout the book mostly just aren't illuminating. The very start of Chapter One, for example, is a description of his car journey out of Chicago - why?
I've given it three stars because I found the earlier parts of the book quite interesting - covering the origins of agriculture and the consequent changes in our nutrition. But other chapters on mental health and climate change were quite pedestrian, and as another reviewer writes, didn't justify some of the author's conclusions.
Recommended if you're interested in the origins of agriculture, and some of its consequences, but not if you're looking for the grand theory the book claims to be (for such a book that doesn't disappoint, check out The Master and His Emissary)
Also, the author's personal anecdotes throughout the book mostly just aren't illuminating. The very start of Chapter One, for example, is a description of his car journey out of Chicago - why?
I've given it three stars because I found the earlier parts of the book quite interesting - covering the origins of agriculture and the consequent changes in our nutrition. But other chapters on mental health and climate change were quite pedestrian, and as another reviewer writes, didn't justify some of the author's conclusions.
Recommended if you're interested in the origins of agriculture, and some of its consequences, but not if you're looking for the grand theory the book claims to be (for such a book that doesn't disappoint, check out The Master and His Emissary)
Most Recent Customer Reviews
cosolidation and contradiction
I've read much of what is said in this book before, in the odd newspaper aticle, watched & listened to the discussions about it's subjects on the radio and TV. Read more
Published 12 months ago by P. Wagg
OK for a general overview.
I read the book on a transatlantic flight. I found it too general, but for sure if you know nothing about this topic it is a good general introduiction. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr Grumpy
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