Genealogy Books - Deep Ancestry: Inside The Genographic Project

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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Good things sometimes come in small packages
Comment: Deep Ancestry is the story of us. Or the story of how scientists are figuring out the story of
us.

Meant to be an introduction to the National Geographic's Genographic Project, Deep
Ancestry provides a summary of the complicated genetic discoveries being made by researchers every
day.

Author Spencer Wells uses real life people's stories to introduce concepts like
haplogroups and population genetics in order to break up the technobabble that cannot really be
avoided without entirely dumbing down the ideas he's trying to convey.

A good chunk of
the end of the book is a detailed appendix with entries describing each haplogroup (Y chromosome and
mtDNA), including all the various markers that point the way to the groups earliest common ancestor.
This section seems best suited to those who have purchased a DNA testing kit and want to research
their test results.

Customer Rating:

Summary: An Interesting Foray into the Genetic Code
Comment: This is the second book I have read by Spencer Wells, and I have found this one to be equally
interesting. In this book you will learn about haplogroups, which identify people with similar
genetic markers and how those markers are identified in the genetic code. There are two types: the
mitochondrial (mtDNA) and the Y chromosome groups. Various maps in the book show where the many
haplogroups had there probable origins. The evidence presented in the genetic code (Y chromosome),
indicates that we had a common ancestor dating back about 60,000 years ago and this ancestor looked
pretty much like modern humans today.

What I found interesting was the sudden change
of events about 50,000 years ago. All of a sudden we see the development of sophisticated art forms,
the migration out of Africa, the development of speech and complex technology and a leap in brain
function. One must wonder what was going on.

I highly recommend this book, and if you
want more information, you can go to the[...] Web site which discusses the genographic project in
detail. It is a pretty cool site.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Amazingly boring.
Comment: It is remarkable how an author can take an absolutely fascinating field of scientific research and
turn it into a dreary bore of a book.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Too Basic
Comment: This book seemed to rehash most known basic facts about genes and genetic history without adding any
new or interesting material. May be a good book for someone just learning about genetic history but
too boring for anyone with prior knowledge and interest.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Good Book
Comment: This a very interesting book about the origin and mutations of our ancestors.Read The Journey of the
Man

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