Review by Choice Review
Rutherford, a science writer and broadcaster, sketches in broad strokes the evolution of modern humans. Much of the book is devoted to descriptions of how science has studied human biology, evolution, and culture before and during the age of genomics. Various chapters explore such topics as prehistoric interactions among species of the genus Homo, the migration of humans to the Western Hemisphere, relatedness between individuals, the nature of "race," the human genome project, and evolution in modern human populations. Rutherford is a gifted storyteller; he interweaves layperson's genetics with the personal histories of scientists, explorers, and historical figures to create an extraordinarily readable book. He (almost always) avoids technical jargon while he (almost always) remains true to the science that he is describing. The book has two significant failings: the first is that it is extremely Eurocentric; very little of the science or history described relates to Asia or Africa, for example. Second, the title is misleading: most of the book is about how science studies human history, evolution, and genetics, rather than a history of human evolution and dispersal. Despite these shortcomings, this is a thoroughly accessible, engaging, and educational read. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Roger M. Denome, MCPHS University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
LIONESS: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel, by Francine Klagsbrun. (Schocken, $40.) Meir has often been as reviled in Israel as she is admired in the United States, but perspectives are shifting. Klagsbrun's absorbing biography suggests this woman politician made history in more ways than one. AN ODYSSEY: A Father, a Son, and an Epic, by Daniel Mendelsohn. (Knopf, $26.95.) A distinguished critic and classicist, Mendelsohn uses Homer's epic as a vehicle for telling his own intricately constructed story of a father and son and their travails through life and love. PRESIDENT MCKINLEY: Architect of the American Century, by Robert W. Merry. (Simon & Schuster, $35.) McKinley tends to be forgotten among American presidents, overshadowed by his successor, Theodore Roosevelt, but he was largely responsible for America's 20th-century role in the world. Merry's measured, insightful biography seeks to set the record straight. THE COLLECTED ESSAYS OF ELIZABETH HARDWICK, edited by Darryl Pinckney. (New York Review, paper, $19.95.) These impeccably economical essays, collected here with a wise introduction by Pinckney, offer a rich immersion in Hardwick's brilliant mind and the minds of the writers she read so well. NOMADLAND: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, by Jessica Bruder. (Norton, $26.95.) In this brilliant and compassionate book, Bruder documents how a growing number of older people, post-recession refugees from the middle and working class, cross the land in their vans and R.V.s in search of work. THE SHADOW DISTRICT, by Arnaldur Indridason. (Thomas Dunne/ Minotaur, $25.99.) In this moody Icelandic mystery, a retired police officer investigates a present-day murder with apparent links to another crime, committed during the waning days of World War II, when the neutral nation was occupied by Allied troops. A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes, by Adam Rutherford. (The Experiment, $25.95.) With a heady amalgam of science, history and a bit of anthropology, Rutherford offers a captivating primer on genetics and human evolution as told through our DNA. THE LAST BALLAD, by Wiley Cash. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $26.99.) Cash's novel revisits a 1929 textile union strike that turned deadly; his heroine is based on a real-life union organizer and folk singer now mostly lost to history. CATAPULT: Stories, by Emily Fridlund. (Sarabande, paper, $16.95.) This powerhouse of a first collection - by an author whose debut novel, "History of Wolves," was a finalist for this year's Man Booker Prize - is notable for its deft mix of humor and insight. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 30, 2019]
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
British geneticist Rutherford (Creation) looks closely at the new field of genomics, scrutinizing the voluminous data being generated by researchers and what it says about us and our ancestors. Methodologically, he seeks to introduce genomics into older fields, "namely history, archaeology, paleoanthropology, medicine, and psychology." For example, close study of the genetic composition of living and dead individuals demonstrates that, though the Vikings controlled much of England for 200 years, they rarely reproduced with the people they subjugated. Similar analysis, Rutherford claims, leads scholars to believe that a single population coming across the Bering Strait 24,000 years ago should be seen as the ancestors of all indigenous people in North and South America. Rutherford also explains why race isn't a valid concept scientifically: "I am unaware of any group of people on Earth that can be defined by their DNA in a scientifically satisfactory way." He argues persuasively that much of what is known about genetics is critical at the population level but much less so at the individual level, asserting that our ignorance has led to a "swing from genetic determinism to genetic denialism." Rutherford raises significant questions and explains complex topics well, engaging readers with humor and smooth prose. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Human genome studies indicate the history of our species is a tangled one. Our ancestors not only inbred frequently but also interbred with Neanderthals, Denisovans, and perhaps other early hominids yet unidentified. As Rutherford (Creation) notes, for Homo sapiens, "there was no beginning, and there are no missing links." In addition, while early genetic researchers interpreted human variation through a Eurocentric and often racist lens, contemporary molecular genetics reveals "we all are a bit of everything, and we come from all over." The author, however, has a clear inclination toward European, particularly British, incidents and examples. At times, Rutherford succumbs to editorializing on peripheral topics, including creationism, epigenetics, and genetic determinism, but he continues to be a witty writer throughout, effectively using typography to illustrate and explain genetic concepts. Included is a brief glossary of genetic terms. VERDICT By turns amusing and provocative, this book, which may bruise the egos of a few genealogists, will appeal to both popular and technical science readers.-Nancy R. Curtis, Univ. of Maine Lib., Orono © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An enthusiastic history of mankind in which DNA plays a far greater role than the traditional "bones and stones" approach, followed by a hopeful if cautionary account of what the recent revolution in genomics foretells.According to British geneticist and science writer Rutherford (Creation: How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself, 2013), "we have literally thousands of ancient, hardened bones, found all around the world; many in the nursery of the human story in eastern Africa, many in Europe, and the more we look the more we find." They reveal clues about how our ancestors looked, hints about their behavior, and vague, contradictory hypotheses about their relation to our species. Deciphering DNA from these relics turns up more specific information about "how our evolution has proceeded." Neanderthals were close relatives. They separated from a common ancestor around 500,000 years ago and met and interbred with us throughout Eurasia, dying out 30,000 years ago and leaving a small percentage of their DNA in ours. Amazingly, DNA from a single finger bone uncovered another subspecies, the Denisovans, which wandered Asia at the same time, leaving a sprinkling of DNA in Pacific Islanders and Australian Aborigines. Turning to the present, Rutherford recounts this century's spectacular discoveries in genomics, pausing regularly to grind axes. For readers who wonder if racism has any basis in genetics, he explains at length that it hasn't. He examines companies that offer to analyze an individual's DNA and reveals why many of their claims are nonsense. Casting doubt on the steady stream of media announcements that scientists have discovered the gene foraddiction, homosexuality, height, anxiety, obesity, etcthe author emphasizes that dramatic advances in human well-being through genomics are guaranteed, if not quite yet. "Life is the accumulation and refinement of information embedded in DNA," writes Rutherford. "We are the data." Often quirky but thoughtfulsolid popular science. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
