The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution
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Two leading researchers make the controversial argument that our species is still measurably evolving in important ways—in fact, faster than ever before. Publishers Weekly Arguing that human genetic evolution is still ongoing, physicist-turned-evolutionary biologist Cochran and anthropologist Harpending marshal evidence for dramatic genetic change in the (geologically) recent past, particularly since the invention of agriculture. Unfortunately, much of their argument-including the origin of modern humans, agriculture, and Indo-Europeans-tends to neglect archaeological and geological evidence; readers should keep in mind that assumed time frames, like the age of the human species, are minimums at best and serious underestimates at worst. That said, there is much here to recommend, including the authors' unique approach to the question of modern human-Neanderthal interbreeding, and their discussion of the genetic pressures on Ashkenazi Jews over the past 1,000 years, both based solidly in fact. They also provide clear explanations for tricky concepts like gene flow and haplotypes, and their arguments are intriguing throughout. Though lapses in their case won't be obvious to the untrained eye, 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. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1 Overview: Conventional Wisdom 12 The Neanderthal Within 253 Agriculture: The Big Change 654 Consequences of Agriculture 855 Gene Flow 1296 Expansions 1557 Medieval Evolution: How the Ashkenazi Jews Got Their Smarts 187Conclusion 225Notes 229Glossary 243Bibliography 253Credits 267Index 269
