Genealogy Books - The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

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Customer Rating:

Summary: Excellently done work by scientist Wells
Comment: I heard about this book being much better than Bryan Sykes's Seven Daughters of Eve at that vastly
inferior book's amazon space. I agree Spencer Wells did a brilliant job of explaining the path the Y
chromosome took over the last say 50000 years of time. I would just like to add one thing to be put
into the revised edition of this book in a couple of years. The gene Ht8 is in the Nivkhi who live
near northern Japan where the very related Ainu live. This gene is also in Jews. There were theories
that the Japanese were Jewish and the Japanese are part Ainu. The Ainu (and thus Japanese) are very
likely directly descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. It is important news in the search for the
Lost Jewish tribes. As an Englishwoman (who isn't Jewish but neolithically Syrian as Spencer Wells
pointed out in JOM) I envy the Ainu.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Humankind's Journey Revealed
Comment: I have seen the PBS show and the article in National Geographic Adventure magazine, and that
inspired me to buy and read the book. Spencer Wells and other geneticists have done much work in
order to map out the "Great Leap Foward" - humankind's ascent out of the African area in order to
populate the world. This all happened much more recently and more quickly than some would have
thought. I found that the book gave me may much more insite into this interesting subject. />
The paperback eliminates the high quality photos found in the hardcover to save cost. They
evidently were available at a Web site, but the page has expired for the Web address given in the
book.

Customer Rating:

Summary: The answer to an age-old question
Comment: Spencer Wells was recently on PBS presenting the views he expressed in his book, "The Journey of
Man." His travels and research prove, at least to my satisfaction, that "The Journey of Man" shows
conclusively that all of mankind is related, cousins, so-to-speak. If evolution is a reality and not
a myth, if mankind came about through the machinations of biology, if we could only have survived
through millions of years of travail by working together, helping one another, and making our way
around the planet step by tortuous step, why do we continue to hate one another, hurt one another,
fight one another, and destroy one another? From our origins in Africa, our painful discovery of how
to progress from one kind of life to another, some of us have succeeded, while others of us suffer
from plague, poverty, and hunger. Why do we not have compassion and understanding, and why do we not
offer one another kindness?

I cherish this book; it is well worth reading and I highly
recommend it. Spencer Wells brings clarity to the origin and progress of mankind, and sends a
clarion call to humanity to change or perish. We need to heed his words. Zivia Cutler, Virginia

Customer Rating:

Summary: well worth the time to read
Comment: Written for the general layperson, it has a technical side that ought not to overwhelm anyone. The
author is both a good scientist and a decent popularizer, as well as a clear concise author. It is a
straight forward presentation of his research in using genetics to trace the major migrations of
human beings out of Africa. He talks about the places he has seen and what he did there, thus
introducing a little bit of human interest and travelogue. But mostly it is about following the
genetic trail in both female mitochrondria and male Y-chromosomes to find that first Eve and first
Adam as it is commonly labelled.

Ought to be one of the first books recommended to
anyone with a interest in early mankind and how we got around the earth. Short easy read held my
interest just fine, a decent book.

Customer Rating:

Summary: More red meat than Seven Daughters of Eve for sure!
Comment: Does this book have. It sticks far more solidly to the genetic facts without boring us with details
of the author's life (unlike Bryan Sykes's book which did bore us).

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