The Human Inheritance

Evolution is fraught with controversy. Working from what is essentially the same data, opinions have come to opposite conclusions. Enter genetics as a source of objective data, and surely the old questions would soon be settled. This text brings together contributors to debate these questions.

' This is a thought-provoking and extremely readable book in which the arguments are uniformly cogent and the exemplifications admirable' Human Genetics

Autorentext
Dr. Bryan Sykes is based at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DS. Tel. 01865 222404 Fax 01865 222498 Email bsykes@molbiol. ox.ac.uk

Klappentext
Human evolution is one of the most contentious areas of science. Genetics is beginning to offer powerful insights into our past, but the results continue to be controversial. This stimulating and challenging book of essays, written for a broad audience, looks at the links between genes, language, and the archeological record and evaluates the potential of genetics for uncovering our history.


Zusammenfassung
Very little excites human curiosity quite so much as contemplating human origins. More than any other branch of science, evolution - and human evolution in particular - is fraught with controversy. Working from what is essentially the same data, schools of opinion have come to diametrically opposed conclusions. Are we adapted Neanderthals, or a new species altogether which wiped them out? Did the first Americans enter the continent 30,000 or 12,000 years ago? Did the Polynesians sail against wind and current to an unknown fate, or were they just blown across from South America while out fishing? Why do we speak different languages? Is it because language traces our biological history, or are the two things completely unrelated? Evolution, because it deals with a past that can never conclusively be known, was once ideal material for perpetual debate. Enter genetics with a completely new source of objective data. Surely these old questions would soon be settled one way or another. Or would they? Bryan Sykes brings together a world-class set of contributors to debate these questions. The result is eight lively essays, each of which offers a different opinion about what the links between genes, language, and the archaeological record can tell us about human evolution - and indeed, whether they can tell us anything conclusive at all. This stimulating and challenging book poses more questions than it offers answers, eschews jargon, and pursues controversy. Guaranteed to fascinate anyone who has ever wondered how the fossil record, the incredible diversity of human language, and our genetic inheritance might combine to give a glimpse of human origins.

Inhalt
Introduction
1: Colin Renfrew: Reflections on the archaeology of linguistic diversity
2: Chris Stringer: The fossil record of the evolution of Homo sapiens
3: Don Ringer: Language classification: scientific and unscientific methods
4: Gabriel Dover: Human evolution: our turbulent genes and why we are not chimps
5: Bryan Sykes: Using genes to map population structure and origins
6: Svante Paabo: Ancient DNA
7: Ryk Ward: Language and genes in the Americas
8: Walter Bodmer: Human genetic diversity and disease susceptibility

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