A Genetic Odyssey

The Journey of Man

Why is humanity so racially and culturally diverse?

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.

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

Spencer Wells - explorer, geneticist, geographer, and author - takes us on an exciting tour of the last 10,000 years of our history in order to forewarn us of what we shall have to deal with in the next 50 years

Jared Diamond, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse

Spencer Wells's writing combines a deep knowledge of the history of human evolution with a most engaging and lively manner of making that story come alive. Pandora's Seed draws upon compelling anecdotes and moving personal narratives to crystallize a crucial turning point in the history of our species, the point at which modern human beings stop and look back at our long evolutionary trajectory, and confront squarely its dark side, its cost

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

Spencer Wells has a provocate and timely message. He argues that we are at a critical juncture where our culture could destroy the very essence of what it means to be human ... Everyone with a stake in humanity's future should read this book

Brian Fagan, author of The Great Warming and Cro-Magnon

The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization

In The Journey of Man, renowned geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells traced human evolution back to our earliest ancestors, creating a remarkable and readable map of our distant past. Now, in his thrilling and thoughtful new book, he examines our cultural inheritance in order to find the turning point that led us to the path we are on today, one he believes we must veer from in order to survive. 
 
Pandora's Seed takes us on a powerful and provocative globe-trotting tour of human history, back to a seminal event roughly 10,000 years ago, when our species made a radical shift in its way of life: we became farmers rather than hunter-gatherers, setting in motion a momentous chain of events that could not have been foreseen at the time. 
 
Although this decision to control our own food supply is what propelled us into the modern world, Wells demonstrates with the latest genetic and anthropological data that such a dramatic shift in lifestyle had a downside that we're only beginning to recognize. Growing grain crops ultimately made the planet more crowded, sedentary and unhealthy. The expanding population and the need to apportion limiting resources such as water created hierarchies and inequalities. The desire to control - and no longer cooperate with - nature altered the concept of religion, making deities fewer and more influential, foreshadowing today's fanaticisms. The proximity of humans and animals bred diseases that metastasized over time. Freedom of movement and choice were replaced by a pressure to work that is the forebear of anxiety and depression millions feel today. Wells then offers a hopeful prescription for altering a life to which we were always ill-suited, changing priorities and self-destructive appetites before it's too late. 
 
A riveting and accessible scientific detective story, Pandora's Seed is an eye-opening book for anyone fascinated by the past and concerned about the future.

Spencer Wells

Praise for Pandora's Seed

Spencer Wells - explorer, geneticist, geographer, and author - takes us on an exciting tour of the last 10,000 years of our history in order to forewarn us of what we shall have to deal with in the next 50 years

Spencer Wells's writing combines a deep knowledge of the history of human evolution with a most engaging and lively manner of making that story come alive. Pandora's Seed draws upon compelling anecdotes and m ...

Spencer Wells has a provocate and timely message. He argues that we are at a critical juncture where our culture could destroy the very essence of what it means to be human ... Everyone with a stake in humanity's fu ...

Spencer Wells - explorer, geneticist, geographer, and author - takes us on an exciting tour of the last 10,000 years of our history in order to forewarn us of what we shall have to deal with in the next 50 years

Spencer Wells's writing combines a deep knowledge of the history of human evolution with a most engaging and lively manner of making that story come alive. Pandora's Seed draws upon compelling anecdotes and m ...

Spencer Wells has a provocate and timely message. He argues that we are at a critical juncture where our culture could destroy the very essence of what it means to be human ... Everyone with a stake in humanity's fu ...

Spencer Wells - explorer, geneticist, geographer, and author - takes us on an exciting tour of the last 10,000 years of our history in order to forewarn us of what we shall have to deal with in the next 50 years

Spencer Wells's writing combines a deep knowledge of the history of human evolution with a most engaging and lively manner of making that story come alive. Pandora's Seed draws upon compelling anecdotes and m ...

Spencer Wells has a provocate and timely message. He argues that we are at a critical juncture where our culture could destroy the very essence of what it means to be human ... Everyone with a stake in humanity's fu ...

Books by Spencer Wells

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