A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Story of our Genes
This is a story about you. It is the history of who you are and how you came to be. It is unique to you, as it is for every one of the 100 billion modern humans who has ever drawn breath. But it is also our collective story, because in each of our genomes we carry the history of the whole of our species.
Since scientists first read the human genome in 2001 it has been subject to all sorts of claims, counterclaims and myths. Drawing together the latest discoveries in this rapidly changing area of science, Adam Rutherford show us that in fact our genomes should be read not like instruction manuals, but more like epic poems. Genes determine less than we have been led to believe about us as individuals, but vastly more about us as a species.
In this captivating journey through the expanding landscape of genetics, written with great clarity and wit, Adam Rutherford reveals what our genes now tell us about human history and what history tells us about our genes. From Neanderthal discoveries to microbiology, from redheads to dead royals, criminology to race relations, evolution to epigenetics, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived is a demystifying and illuminating new portrait of who we are and how we came to be.
Praise for A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived:
A Brief History is nothing less than a tour de force ? a heady amalgam of science, history, a little bit of anthropology and plenty of nuanced, captivating storytelling. - Misha Angrist, The New York Times
Since scientists first read the human genome in 2001 it has been subject to all sorts of claims, counterclaims and myths. Drawing together the latest discoveries in this rapidly changing area of science, Adam Rutherford show us that in fact our genomes should be read not like instruction manuals, but more like epic poems. Genes determine less than we have been led to believe about us as individuals, but vastly more about us as a species.
In this captivating journey through the expanding landscape of genetics, written with great clarity and wit, Adam Rutherford reveals what our genes now tell us about human history and what history tells us about our genes. From Neanderthal discoveries to microbiology, from redheads to dead royals, criminology to race relations, evolution to epigenetics, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived is a demystifying and illuminating new portrait of who we are and how we came to be.
Praise for A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived:
A Brief History is nothing less than a tour de force ? a heady amalgam of science, history, a little bit of anthropology and plenty of nuanced, captivating storytelling. - Misha Angrist, The New York Times
Other books by Adam Rutherford
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Creation: The Story of Life on Earth and How We Are About to Start it Again
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The Book of Humans: A Brief History of Culture, Sex, War and the Evolution of Us
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How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science, Race and Reality
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Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics