Review:
John Derbyshire, author of Prime Obsession "Did human evolution come to a screeching halt fifty thousand years ago when Homo sapiens emerged from Africa, thus ensuring the psychic unity of mankind? Don't be silly, say the authors of this latest addition to the fast-emerging discipline of Biohistory. In clear prose backed by a wealth of hard data, Cochran and Harpending add a biological dimension to the history of our species, and hammer another nail into the coffin lid of 'nothing but culture' anthropology." Bruce G. Charlton, MD; Professor of Theoretical Medicine, University of Buckingham, Editor in Chief of Medical Hypotheses "The 10,000 Year Explosion offers scientists and historians a new and fertile direction for future research, and provides the general public with a better explanation of the past, present, and future of human beings....I was motivated to read the entire book in a single marathon session." John Hawks, author of Human Evolution "For years, human geneticists have been uncovering a picture of human evolution. But now, Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending are encouraging us to 'fast forward' the discussion." Booklist "A most intriguing deposition, without a trace of ethnic or racial advocacy, though directed against the proposition that 'we're all the same.'" Publishers Weekly "There is much here to recommend... and their arguments are intriguing throughout...it's clear that this lively, informative text is not meant to deceive (abundant references and a glossary also help) but to provoke thought, debate and possibly wonder." Wall Street Journal "Important and fascinating...the provocative ideas in 'The 10,000 Year Explosion' must be taken seriously by anyone who wants to understand human origins and humanity's future." Seed "The 10,000 Year Explosion would be important even if it were only about population genetics and evolutionary biology, but Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending...have written something more. This book is a manifesto for and an example of a new kind of history, a biological history, and not just of the prehistoric era." New Scientist "The evidence the authors present builds an overwhelming case that natural selection has recently acted strongly on us and may be continuing unabated." John Derbyshire, author of "Prime Obsession" "Did human evolution come to a screeching halt fifty thousand years ago when Homo sapiens emerged from Africa, thus ensuring the psychic unity of mankind? Don't be silly, say the authors of this latest addition to the fast-emerging discipline of Biohistory. In clear prose backed by a wealth of hard data, Cochran and Harpending add a biological dimension to the history of our species, and hammer another nail into the coffin lid of 'nothing but culture' anthropology." Bruce G. Charlton, MD; Professor of Theoretical Medicine, University of Buckingham, Editor in Chief of Medical Hypotheses ""The 10,000 Year Explosion" offers scientists and historians a new and fertile direction for future research, and provides the general public with a better explanation of the past, present, and future of human beings....I was motivated to read the entire book in a single marathon session." John Hawks, author of "Human Evolution" "For years, human geneticists have been uncovering a picture of human evolution. But now, Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending are encouraging us to 'fast forward' the discussion." "Booklist" "A most intriguing deposition, without a trace of ethnic or racial advocacy, though directed against the proposition that 'we're all the same.'" "Publishers Weekly" "There is much here to recommend... and their arguments are intriguing throughout...it's clear that this lively, informative text is not meant to deceive (abundant references and a glossary also help) but to provoke thought, debate and possibly wonder." "Wall Street Journal" "Important and fascinating...the provocative ideas in 'The 10,000 Year Explosion' must be taken seriously by anyone who wants to understand human origins and humanity's future." "Seed" ""The 10,000 Year Explosion" would be important even if it were only about population genetics and evolutionary biology, but Gregory Cochran and Hen John Derbyshire, author of "Prime Obsession" "Did human evolution come to a screeching halt fifty thousand years ago when Homo sapiens emerged from Africa, thus ensuring the psychic unity of mankind? Don't be silly, say the authors of this latest addition to the fast-emerging discipline of Biohistory. In clear prose backed by a wealth of hard data, Cochran and Harpending add a biological dimension to the history of our species, and hammer another nail into the coffin lid of 'nothing but culture' anthropology." Bruce G. Charlton, MD; Professor of Theoretical Medicine, University of Buckingham, Editor in Chief of Medical Hypotheses ""The 10,000 Year Explosion" offers scientists and historians a new and fertile direction for future research, and provides the general public with a better explanation of the past, present, and future of human beings....I was motivated to read the entire book in a single marathon session." John Hawks, author of "Human Evolution" "For years, human geneticists have been uncovering a picture of human evolution. But now, Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending are encouraging us to 'fast forward' the discussion."
Synopsis:
Much of humanitys past is a mystery. Until recently, we had only bones and artifacts to help us understand prehistoric human life. But today we have a new window into the past: the historical record that survives in our genes. We can now examine material from our own genomes and analyze it in light of evolutionary theory-a combination Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending call evolutionary genomics. The overwhelming surprise emerging from this new field of research is that human evolution did not stop with the emergence of Homo sapiens. Instead, it sped up-and has continued accelerating into historical times. The 10,000 Year Explosion is the first book to introduce the new ideas coming from evolutionary genomics that will revolutionize humanitys understanding of its past. Harpending and Cochran reveal the genetic changes that led to behaviorally modern humans and that allowed our ancestors to adapt to new environments. The majority of these changes, including adaptations to physical and social inventions such as agriculture and urban environments, seem to have started in a huge burst only 10,000 years ago.
Cochran and Harpending make clear that many of the important transitions in human history involved biological changes that were the products of natural selection. Full of revelatory and wondrous findings, The 10,000 Year Explosion proves that humanitys genetic inheritance can change remarkably fast-and that our own civilization can cause the change.
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