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The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (Paperback)

by Spencer Wells (Author), Mark Read (Photographer) "Creation myths can be found at the core of all religions ..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press (31 Oct 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0713996250
  • ISBN-13: 978-0713996258
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.3 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 764,725 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The Journey of Man is not just some old fashioned sexist travelogue about a bloke in shorts and sandals wandering the byways of the world. As the subtitle explains, it is "a genetic odyssey" of men rather than women. We have heard a lot about the matriarchal "African Eve". As Spencer Wells says, we all have an African foremother who lived approximately 150,000 years ago. She handed down her genetic mitochondrial "handbag" specifically to her daughter and on over the generations and millennia. But what about the male contribution to today's human genome?

Luckily for the male ego and population geneticists it turns out that blokes also have some unique chromosomal hand baggage hidden away in the non-recombining part of the Y chromosome. Like female mitochondrial DNA it is passed solely between father and son and is particularly useful for studying human diversity. This is because it is so big--much bigger than mitochondrial DNA--and accumulates mutations at particular sites that can be relatively easily identified. By sampling the Y chromosome from men around the world the modern human diaspora can be mapped out both geographically and chronologically.

Spencer Wells is an American geneticist with impeccable credentials from Harvard, Stanford and Oxford universities and certainly knows his subject. Fortunately, he is also very good at explaining the science, which can be somewhat complicated at times. This fascinating and often surprising story originated as a television film and has benefited from being thoroughly worked out through first-hand experience around the world.

Accompanied by 24 pages of brilliant photos by Mark Read, an excellent list of further reading and an index, The Journey of Man is well worth getting to grips with. As Wells points out, each of us carries a unique chapter locked away inside our genome, and we owe it to ourselves and our descendants to discover what it is. Come on boys, this is our story and we ought to know the gist of it. Douglas Palmer



Review

Advances in science are often the result of advances in the tools of science. Simply being able to make instruments which measured length, volume and time accurately created the first explosion of discovery, and the invention of each successive instrument or procedure has added to the growth of scientific knowledge. In the 1950s X-ray crystallography led to the discovery of the structure of DNA and 20 years later the sequencing of the molecule started a revolution in science that has continued to the present day. Anthropology has been one of the beneficiaries of this advance. Previously the search for the origins of man was largely the province of fossil hunters and biology was only able to offer limited help. Work with blood groups had given indications, but it was the study of mitochondrial DNA that led to the identification of our earliest common female ancestor, who lived about 150,000 years ago in Africa. Further work with the Y-chromosome (the male equivalent of mitochondrial DNA) offered geneticists another useful tool for studying human diversity. 50,000 years ago modern man began an exodus from the cradle of Africa, moving along coastal Africa through Asia and ending up in Australasia. Other groups moved north at a steady rate of several kilometres per year, some ending up in Europe and others eventually crossing the Bering Strait into North America. Spencer Wells follows this journey using other branches of scientific knowledge, including clues from languages, and offers proof that Neanderthal man (already present in Europe) represents a separate species from modern Homo Sapiens and has no part in our ancestry. Investigations of the Y-chromosome yield other insights into the arrival of man into north America (a mere ten individuals account for the whole ethnic diversity among Native Americans), and the relationships between the various branches of the Family of Man. Spencer Wells explains the science in detail, which helps make this book all the more compelling, and the story it tells, revealed by the living cells of our bodies, all the more astonishing. 48 pages of beautiful colour photographs by Mark Read illustrate some of the race groups referred to in the text. (Kirkus UK)
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71 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "Y" is the answer - not the question, 1 April 2004
By Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (Paperback)
A few years ago a furor arose over the announcement that a calculation of mitochondrial DNA mutation rate formulated an "African Eve". Since then other genetic ancestral studies have been undertaken. Most notable of these was the determination that Neanderthal was not a direct ancestor of modern humans. Spencer Wells provides an enthralling overview of the research tracking changes in the Y [male] chromosome. The studies verify again that our origins are African. Somewhere, around 60 000 years ago, lived one man, a flesh and blood individual, from whom we've all descended. His progeny, in an amazingly short span, scattered around the globe. The scattering isn't news, but the verification of the paths and chronology is lucid and vividly outlined in this book.

The key to the tracking, as Wells makes abundantly clear, are various polymorphisms [changes] in the Y chromosome. These mutations are reflected in today's populations and the rate of their diversity indicates the approximate age of the various regional groups. These changes, nearly all prefixed "M" [male?] are used as ingredients in recipes Wells offers as illustrative metaphor. It's a clever ploy, so long as you remember ingredients may only be added, never removed nor replaced. That's how genetics works, he reminds us. He portrays the build-up of recipe ingredients with maps and diagrams. The diagrams are almost redundant as the clarity of his prose enables you to envision them.

Following the paths of migration, Wells shows how some archaeological finds offer support for the patterns he sees. Fossils are rare, elusive and sometimes misunderstood. Genetics, buried deep in our cells, are unequivocal in providing their evidence. Dating methods are briefly described and their shortcomings mercilessly paraded. Wells doesn't give the paleoanthropologists much voice. His story needs telling and the reader may go elsewhere for countering information. Yet he acknowledges the importance of confirming information from various digs around the world.

Wells firmly addresses a great anomaly - if modern humans arose from the evolutionary bouillabaisse about 60 millennia ago, how did the Aborigines arrive in Australia at nearly the same time? His answer is that the track followed shore routes, not inland ones. Hunter-gatherer groups, subject to the whims of climate, food resources and population pressure took the softest trail. Africa to Australia during ice ages was a gentle, if lengthy, stroll.

Nit-picking department: Wells' opening gun is turned on the racial "expert" Carleton Coon, who asserted the human races each followed a separate evolutionary path. Coon has been refuted in so many ways by so many researchers, Wells' effort seems superfluous. There are more competent scientists adhering to the "Multiregional" thesis. Some of these researchers might have been given a small voice in an annotated bibliography. While Wells offers a reading list for each chapter, a full bibliography would be an enhancement. Many of his references are remote. That doesn't tarnish the value of this book. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Shading light to the dark, 30 May 2009
By Amir Mokhtarzadeh (UK, Manchester) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (Paperback)
This book is fantastic genetic research on human history. Answering many questions and shading light to the darkness of general knowledg of physical differences.
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