The Journey of Man

Around 60 000 years ago a man identical to us in all important respects walked the soil of Africa. Every man alive today is descended from him. How did he come to be father to all of us - a real-life Adam? And why do we come in such a huge variety of sizes shapes types and races if we all share a single prehistoric ancestor?
In this fascinating book Spencer Wells shows how the truth about our ancestors is hidden in our genetic code and reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible not just to discover where our ancestors lived (and who they may have fought loved learned from and influence) but to create a family tree for the whole of humanity.

Spencer Wells received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1994, and subsequently moved to Stanford University, where he worked with Luca Cavalli-Sforza. He then led the population genetics research group at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford.

The diverse ape; E pluribus unum; Eve's mate; coasting away; leaps and bounds; the main line; blood from a stone; the importance of culture; the final big bang.