Book Description
Read it.
You're already living it.
Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? Did a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Will a visit to the tanning salon help lower your cholesterol? Why do we age? Why are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on -- or off?
Joining the ranks of modern myth busters, Dr. Sharon Moalem turns our current understanding of illness on its head and challenges us to fundamentally change the way we think about our bodies, our health, and our relationship to just about every other living thing on earth, from plants and animals to insects and bacteria.
Through a fresh and engaging examination of our evolutionary history, Dr. Moalem reveals how many of the conditions that are diseases today actually gave our ancestors a leg up in the survival sweepstakes. When the option is a long life with a disease or a short one without it, evolution opts for disease almost every time.
Everything from the climate our ancestors lived in to the crops they planted and ate to their beverage of choice can be seen in our genetic inheritance. But Survival of the Sickest doesn't stop there. It goes on to demonstrate just how little modern medicine really understands about human health, and offers a new way of thinking that can help all of us live longer, healthier lives.
Survival of the Sickest is filled with fascinating insights and cutting-edge research, presented in a way that is both accessible and utterly absorbing. This is a book about the interconnectedness of all life on earth -- and, especially, what that means for us.
Customer Reviews:
Engaging but Sometimes Misleading.......2007-10-17
If Moalem and Prince were more careful with their facts, and pointed their readers to other works in this field, I would rate this book 5 stars. It is lively and readable, and will please many light readers.
On the other hand ... while there is a reference in the notes to a Scientific American review article by Nesse and Williams, there are no mentions of their excellent books "Why We Get Sick" and "Evolution and Healing". While a light reader may find those books a bit dry, a more scientifically minded reader will find much food for thought. Moalem and Prince are not trying to be scholarly, but they should acknowledge their scholarly antecedents. There are echos of Nesse and William's "Evolution ... " in the structure and style of Moalem and Price's "Sickest ...", and that should be noted.
The material on human cryonic suspension (page 42 of the first hard cover edition) should either be properly researched or left out of future editions. Wood frogs cannot depend on external interventions to recover from freezing - humans have more options. Whether cryonics will eventually work or not, cryonics practitioners focus on the minimization of freezing damage to cellular structure, and perfuse their subjects with high concentrations of ice-thwarting chemicals. Research in this area is already improving preservation for transplants. There is still massive cell damage, of course, and the cryonic subjects beginning the process are already "dead", so there will be a lot to repair. However, the structural, chemical, and genetic information necessary to make those repairs and replacements is preserved by the modified freezing process. Molecular scale nanomachines and external computation and direction will be essential to repair the damage, but high-tech external manipulation is needed now to cure many diseases. The necessary technology is under development. Check the Alcor (www.alcor.org) and Foresight Institute (www.foresight.org) websites for pointers to these fascinating subjects. They, too, can be a little purple in their prose, but they usually acknowledge the speculative nature of their work, and the long road ahead of them.
I hope the other unreferenced material in "Survival ..." is more firmly grounded. While the "on the one hand, on the other hand" style of many scientific works is aggravating to readers who want blinding certainty, it does help careful readers understand the actual state of knowledge. Even if banished to the notes, such "weasel wording" can keep the authors of review books such as this from being tagged as exemplars of error, as they note happened to Lamark. Moalem can write a better book than this, and I hope he gets the opportunity.
Very,very, interesting.......2007-09-21
This is one of those books that is a delightful read, educating, interesting, and entertaining. The author puts forth his theories that many modern diseases are variations of evolutionary traits that were held by our ancestors that enabled them to survive the ice age and bubonic plague. He goes on to describe how viruses cause certain behavior in their carriers to help the viruses survival. The common cold leaves you well enough to stay moving and go to work so you can spread the virus to others, while the parasitic malaria wants you immobile and in bed because mosquitos can continue to carry it even better with you immobile.
The author also presents a case currently making head way in evolutionary science that is challenging the savannah theory. He proposes that we are evolved form aquatic apes as opposed to grassland dwellers, which would explain our hairlessness like other aquatic mammals and being bipedal. We also have fat stored at the skin like water dwellers and our infants have swimming instincts at birth that have been proven by water birthing that is very successful.
And finally I was really fascinated by the finding that what scientists have believed were "junk DNA" is slowly being shown to actually be a creative force that causes mutations in DNA for the benefit of survival of the species. I have always had trouble believing in the evolutionary theory because no mechanism could be created with causing it outside of God, and God would not need it. I also believed that the key was in DNA. Now I have a cause, the DNA itself creates and casues beneficial mutations.
I really can not do this book justice in a review with out making it far to long so buy the book if the above sounds interesting. The book presents an excellent case and has made me a believer.
Evolution in a way you never knew!.......2007-09-08
Everything out there is influencing the evolution of everything else. The bacteria and viruses and parasites that cause disease in us have affected our evolution as we have adapted in ways to cope with their effects. In response they have evolved in turn, and keep on doing so.
There are many dietary diseases that have had an evolutionary advantage in our ancestors but that today do more harm than good. In a person with hemochromatosis, for example, the body always thinks that it doesn't have enough iron and continues to absorb iron unabated. The excess iron can lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, and even cancer.
Why would a disease so deadly be bred into our genetic code? Remember how natural selection works. If a given genetic trait makes you stronger--especially if it makes you stronger before you have children--then you're more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass that trait on. People with hemochromatosis have therefore an evolutionary advantage--protection against the bubonic plague!
On one set of experiments, macrophages from people who had hemochromatosis and macrophages from people who did not were matched against bacteria in separate dishes to test their killing ability. The hemochromatic macrophages crushed the bacteria. They are thought to be significantly better at combating bacteria by limiting the availability of iron than the nonhemochromatic macrophages. So though hemochromatosis will kill those inflicted with it decades later, they are much more likely than people without hemochromatosis to survive plagues, reproduce, and pass the mutation on to their children.
Diabetes also provided an evolutionary advantage to our ancestors by providing superior ability to withstand the cold by eliminating water and driving up sugar levels (like alcohol, sugar is a natural antifreeze). As a theory, it's hotly controversial, but diabetes may have helped our European ancestors survive the sudden cold, including the ice-age.
Malaria is an infectious disease that infects as many as 500 million people every year, killing more than 1 million of them. But not everyone who gets bit by malaria-carrying mosquitoes gets infected. And not everybody who gets infected dies. So what's helping the malaria survivors? People with a genetic tendency for sickle-cell anemia, another inherited blood disorder, had better natural resistance to malaria.
As you've seen with hemochromatosis, diabetes, and sickle-cell anemia, one generation's evolutionary solution is another generation's evolutionary problem.
At the end of the day, every living thing shares two hardwired imperatives: Survive. Reproduce. To achieve this, some organisms have inherited ingenious techniques to manipulate their hosts--the phenomenon that occurs when a parasite provokes its host to behave in a way that helps the parasite to survive and reproduce.
Orb weavers are a family of spiders that experience host manipulation. A wasp bites the spider, temporarily paralyzing it, then deposits its egg in its abdomen. The spider then goes on with his life oblivious to the egg in him. The egg then hatches, and the larva slowly feeds off the blood of the spider. When it is ready to cocoon, it injects chemicals into the spider's bloodstream to manipulate the spider into building a special web for it--instead of building circular webs, it goes back and forth building a rectangular web. Once the web is completed, the larva kills the spider by sucking off all its blood, and then throwing its carcass to the jungle floor below. It then uses the specially built web for it to cocoon by hanging on it.
A worm that infects ants is a classic example of another host manipulator. As the worms being carried by the ant develop, one of them makes its way to the ant's brain where it manipulates the ant's nervous system. Suddenly, the ant behaves in completely uncharacteristic fashion. At night, it leaves its colony and hangs on the tip of a grass, waiting to be eaten by a sheep. If it does not, it returns to its colony only to resume again its journey at night to the tip of a grass waiting to be eaten. Once eaten by a sheep, the worm would have succeeded in its manipulation, and would grow inside the sheep's stomach, its intended host.
The rabies Virus is another interesting host manipulator. It manipulates its host into becoming aggressive, which will make its host bite others and thus also infecting others.
Here is one amazing example of host manipulation: One researcher has discovered that women infected with T. gondii spend more money on clothes and are consistently rated as beings more attractive than women without the infection. Infected women were more easy-going, more warm-hearted, had more friends, and cared more about how they looked. However, they were also less trustworthy and had more relationships with men. Infected men, on the other hand, were less well groomed, more likely to be loners, and more willing to fight. They were also more likely to be suspicious and jealous and less willing to follow rules.
A normal sneeze occurs when the body's self-defense system senses a foreign invader trying to get in through your nasal passages and acts to repel the invasion by expelling it with a sneeze. But sneezing when you've got a cold? There's obviously no way to expel the cold virus which is already lodged in you. The cold virus has learned this reflex so it can infect your colleagues, family and your friends. Your body is actually being manipulated by the virus into sneezing!
The herpes virus may heighten sexual feeling, which will increase the probability of transmission. In other words, sometimes the herpes virus may want you to get some action in order for it to spread to other hosts.
So what if we made it easier for a given type of bacteria to survive in a healthy human than to survive in a sick human? Would this create evolutionary pressure against behavior that harms us? In fact there is an evolutionary advantage for the malaria parasite to push its hosts toward the brink of death. The more parasites swarming through our blood, the more parasites the mosquito is likely to ingest; the more parasites the mosquito ingests, the more likely it will cause an infection when it bites someone else. Cholera is similar--it doesn't need us moving around to find new hosts, so there's no reason for the bacteria to select against virulence. The bottom line is that if an infectious client has allies (such as mosquitoes) or good delivery systems (such as unprotected water supplies), peaceful coexistence with its host becomes a lot less important. In those cases evolution is likely to favor versions of the parasite that best exploit its host's resources, allowing the parasite to multiply as much as possible. Some researchers believe that we can use this understanding to influence the evolution of parasites away from virulence. The basic theory is this: shut down the modes of transmission that don't require human participation and suddenly all the evolutionary pressure is directed at allowing the human host to get up and get out. According to this theory, the virulence of a cholera outbreak in a given population should be directly related to the quality and safety of that population's water supply. If sewage flows easily into rivers that people wash in or drink from, then the cholera strain would evolve toward virulence--it can multiply freely, essentially using up its hosts, relying on its access to the water supply for transmission. But if the water supply is well protected, the organism should evolve away from virulence--the longer it remains in a more mobile host, the better its chance of transmission.
A series of cholera outbreaks that began in Peru in 1991 and spread across South and Central America over the next few years provide compelling evidence that this theory might actually work. The water supply systems from country to country ranged from relatively advanced to seriously rudimentary. Sure enough, when the bacteria invaded nations with poorly protected water supplies, such as Ecuador, the virus became more harmful as it spread. But in countries with safe water supplies, such as Chile, the bacteria evolved downward in virulence and killed fewer people. The implications of this are huge. Instead of challenging bacteria to become stronger and more dangerous through an antibiotic arms race (which we are currently losing), we could essentially challenge them to get along. If mosquitoes didn't have access to bedridden malaria patients, the microbe would be under evolutionary pressure to evolve in a way that allowed the infected person to remain mobile, increasing the opportunity for it to spread.
A series of groundbreaking research has shown that certain compounds can attach themselves to specific genes and suppress their expression. Let's take a look at a few examples. Depending upon the time of year the vole (a type of mouse) is due to give birth, baby voles are born with either a thick coat or a thin coat. The gene for a thick coat is always there--it's just turned on or off depending on the level of light the mother senses in her environment around the time of conception.
One species of lizard is born with a long tail and large body or a small tail and small body depending on one thing only--whether their mother smelled a lizard-eating snake while pregnant. When her babies are entering a snake-filled world, they are born with a long tail and big body, making them less likely to be snake food.
This is a fascinating book and I highly recommend it. I truly enjoyed reading it and I have learnt things I never imagined! Now that's what I call precious reading!
Understanding genetic disease from an evolutionary point of view.......2007-09-01
We really don't "need" disease. This is a bit misleading. It just so happens that some genetic disorders, such as sickle-cell anemia, favism, diabetes, hemochromatosis, the tendency to obesity, etc., confer on the afflicted compensatory advantages. Thus a predilection for getting fat is adaptive if a drought or a long winter beckons, or a person with a genetic tendency toward sickle-cell anemia is less likely to get malaria, and so on. Note that it is only diseases caused by genetic mutations that Dr. Moalem is talking about.
One of the techniques our bodies use when fighting infection is to reduce the amount of iron available to the invaders. Bacteria need iron to reproduce. If there is a lot of it available their numbers can grow quickly. Without iron they can't reproduce at all. Iron is a limiting factor for many kinds of life. Vast stretches of ocean support little in the way of life because the microorganisms that begin the food chain can't grow where there is so little iron. As Dr. Moalem reports in this wide-ranging and eyebrow-lifting book, sprinkle some iron onto those patches of ocean and they will quickly turn green with microorganisms.
So it is a bit of an irony that people who have hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes them to retain large amounts of iron in their bodies, are able to survival infections like the plague. This is because they starve the invading microbes through "iron locking." They have a lot of iron in their bodies, but they keep it away from the bacteria. Other people who have low levels of iron in their bodies are able to withstand bacterial attacks because they also keep what little iron they have away from the germs. In fact, one of the body's initial responses to microbial invasion is to limit the amount of free iron in the system.
Genetic coding for levels of iron in the body is an example of evolutionary adaptation, part of the ongoing arms race between us and the microbes that live in and on our bodies. This is just one of several interesting and new ideas coming from the growing science of evolutionary medicine that I found in Survival of the Sickest. Incidentally, one way to manage hemochromatosis is through donating blood on a regular basis, which explains in part why physicians of old were sometimes successful when they bled their patients.
This got me to thinking about "only women bleed" which led me to think about hemorrhoids (which prove that it isn't only women who bleed). Perhaps bleeding instead of retaining blood, which seems like the more natural thing for our bodies to do, has adaptive value in some people in some environments.
Another interesting idea is this from page 58: "ACHOO syndrome--its full name is autosomal dominant compelling heliopthalmic outburst syndrome." It is a "disorder that causes uncontrolled sneezing when someone is exposed to bright light, usually sunlight, after being in the dark." Dr. Moalem suggests that "way back when our ancestors spent more time in caves, this reflex helped them to clear out any molds or microbes that might have lodged in their noses or upper respiratory tract." Now this may sound a bit far fetched, but I have suffered from low grade allergies all my life, and used to have asthmatic attacks. I came to believe that the buildup in my lungs and the sneezing were signals to me to move on! Of course now I clean and vacuum like a germaphobe, but the idea is the same. My symptoms were adaptive. They more or less forced me to reduce the level of potential irritants and microbes in my environment.
But there is more. I noticed long ago that sometimes the sun in the morning would cause me to sneeze. I never figured out why until I read the above from Dr. Moalem. I am just the kind of person who would need to sneeze those molds out.
Later on in the book Moalem returns to an evolutionary idea that has been kicking around for decades. Beginning with the work of Elaine Morgan from the 1970s the public became aware of the notion that we humans had an aquatic past. She got the idea from marine biologist Alister Hardy. Through such books as The Descent of Woman (1972) and The Aquatic Ape: A Theory of Human Evolution (1982) Morgan argued that some of our unusual adaptations came about because we had an aquatic past. Taking up the idea, Moalem writes, "Every hairless mammal is aquatic or at least plays in the mud--think of hippos, elephants and the African warthog. But there aren't any hairless primates." (p. 198) Furthermore we have fat directly under our skin to help keep us warm just as aquatic mammals do. Also, Moalem notes, "the ability to survive on land and sea" gives us adaptive flexibility. If "chased by a leopard, the semiaquatic ape could dive into the water; chased by a crocodile, it could run into the forest." (p. 199)
These ideas are familiar but what I didn't know was that an aquatic past could have figured in our evolution toward bipedalism. "[S]tanding upright in water allowed...[aquatic apes] to venture into deeper water and still breathe, and the water helped to support their upper bodies, making it easier to support them on two feet." (p. 199)
This is an easy to read book, aimed at a general readership. An earlier, slightly more technical book that covers some of the same territory is Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine (1994) by Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams, which I also recommend.
Razzle dazzle them.......2007-08-27
This book embodies much of what I dislike in popular cience books, while having few of the qualities I admire in such books. It relies more on sleigh of the hand and razzle dazzle, you-wouldn't-have-thought-of-it than on throughly thought out, well substantiated lines of thought.
Let's start with the subtitle: "A medical maverick discovers why we need disease". That is a clear case of fiction: nowhere in the book does the author "discover" anything; he merely retells the study of others. This, of course, is not a demerit, as many interesting scientists have difficulties in explaining their work in clear terms, acessible to the layman. However, the author must be hyped as the "discoverer", as the center figure in the tale.
Since James Burke's "Connections", it seems that popular science must explore all the crossroads, no matter how irrelevant. So Moalem goes on long tangents that have little to do with the theory he is trying to substantiate. In order to show how diabetes works to protect the body against cold, the reader is taken through the mechanism of an ice age, how ice core samples are removed and so on. If one were to remove all this "extra" material, this book would be thin indeed.
The book seems to revolve around this material and the author's use of jokes. Unfortunately, his sense of humour tends more towards ha-ha than funny, which helped to further fray my patience towards this book.
All of this is indeed a pity, as the subject is very interesting. If more pages had been dedicated to developing a central line of thought and substantiation and to showing the debate behind all these ideas (in a real light, instead of "the thickheaded traditionalists who won't accept new ideas"), it would be well worth the read.
Book Description
Human Genetics, Seventh Edition, is a non-science majors human genetics text that clearly explains what genes are, how they function, how they interact with the environment, and how our understanding of genetics has changed since completion of the human genome project. It is a clear, modern, and exciting book for citizens who will be responsible for evaluating new medical options, new foods, and new technologies in the age of genomics.
Customer Reviews:
Informative material.......2007-09-15
I bought this book for a class I am taking. It has great pictures and explanations, which are beneficial in the understanding of the material.
A textbook you can use.......2007-09-04
For professors who are thinking of using this book, as a student I felt it engaged me immensely. For students who are contemplating shelling out the $$ for the book, I don't quite know what to tell you. The book is very easy to read, lots of colorful pictures, not just dry text. Each chapter starts off with a semi-personal story about the topic at hand. My teacher didn't use it that often for work but I found it helpful to support what I was learning in class. Great reference. Human Genetics is a very interesting topic and can get any lay person to talk about their views on what kind of world they want to see.
fast service.......2007-02-07
i was very happily suprised when i saw the book in the mail. their expedited shipping is really expedited shipping
The Human Drama.......2006-03-15
I needed it for class, she gets too caught up in social causes and debates. Having to deal with emotional issues in a science book is trash. If I wanted a book on morals, and social causes, with the emotions I would buy one. I want a science book, cut and dry. She should get a life.
easy to read text.......2006-02-19
great text book for genetics course. I use it at NYU. Easy to read, great illustrations, helpful index.
Book Description
Composed of cutting-edge reasearch and featuring an engaging writing style, the author offers compelling scientific answers to the profound human questions regarding love and work.
Beginning with a historial introduction, the text logically progresses by discussing adaptive problems humans face and ends with a chapter showing how the new field of evolutionary psychology encompasses all branches of psychology. Each chapter is alive with the subjects that most occupy our minds: sex, mating, getting along, getting ahead, friends, enemies, and social hierarchies. Why is child abuse 40 times more prevalent among step-families than biologically intact families? Why, according to one study, did 75% of men but 0% of women consent to have sex with a complete stranger? Buss explores these intriguing quandaries with his vision of psychology in the new millenium as a new science of the mind.
Anyone with an interest in the biological facets of human psychology will find this a fascinating read.
Customer Reviews:
Good Intro.......2007-10-12
This was the first book I read dealing with Evolutionary Psychology. I read it after college and law school so the textbook format was actually perfect for what I was looking for. It begins with a rudimentary and straight forward explanation of evolution by natural selection. From there it gets into the details of evolutionary psychology. It is a very solid introduction to the field in my opinion. I was told that when it comes to EP to start with Buss's book but don't end there and I sort of see why. I don't think you could go wrong by starting here.
high on appeal, low on rigor.......2005-06-24
I used this book as a text book for a course I taught on Evolutionary Psychology. On the whole, the students really enjoyed the text and they found Buss's writing style to be very engaging and easy to read. I would agree.
Nevertheless, I feel this book--like the whole field of Evolutionary Psychology--requires a far more rigorous scientific framework before it can be considered a field that can substantively explain human behavior from an evolutionary perspective. Don't get me wrong: evolutionary hypotheses can provide a lot of insight into particular human behaviors. However, I would have liked to see much more discussion on what is science, what constitutes a scientifically valid argument, how do we falsify a particular hypothesis, etc. These issues could be covered in a few pages or so, and I think they could help flesh out or perhaps even justify some of the arguments put forth in the text. As it stands now, the book reads more like an apologetic and as I skim the pages, I get the same feeling that I do when I've been pamphleted by evangelicals. Buss's arguments are fraught with generalizations: studies on college kids are extrapolated to the whole human species, studies on plumage color in birds are used to argue for handicaps in humans, and on and on it goes. There are sentences that make pretty extraordinarly claims that go unreferenced and there are sentences that make trivial points that are tailed by six references.
Professor Buss does a good job in conveying the basics of natural selection, but then uses some of the most tenuous definitions of fitness in trying to make an adaptive argument: questionaires, age, symmetry, and even intuition are all stand-ins for fitness. This is a shame because in order to know when selection will operate, we need to know how phenotypic (including behavioral) variation covaries with fitness. Because his fitness proxies are so weak, I have a hard time buying many of the arguments advanced in the book. Other evolutionary forces are rarely discussed; such lapses are unfortunate since it is likely that drift has played some (if not a major) role in getting populations to cross adaptive valleys, as well as affecting the evolutionary dynamics of frequency-dependent selection. But I digress...
I hope future editions (and I'm sure they're on their way) will include a chapter on scientific and evolutionary epistemology. That is, I would like to see a chapter address the question: what steps do evolutionary biologists proceed through when they make an adaptive argument. This would be a timely and useful contribution given that intelligent-design folks are trying to loosen up and poke holes in the definition of science. One chapter starts down this road but never critically discusses how hypotheses are tested (and rejected!), it focuses more on how hypotheses are developed--and believe me, evolutionary psychologists are good at coming up with hypotheses. Professor Buss's book, with its profligate use of unfalsifiable hypotheses, does not help the cause in this respect. Sure, evolutionary psychologists can always hide behind Lakatos as they denigrate Popper for being too severe, or, like Dunbar et al., they can actually learn some math, some scientific epistemology, and help bring evolutionary psychology into a more rigorous, more reputable position. Buss's book does too much of the former and not enough of the latter.
HUMAN CIVILIZATION FROM THE PRESENT: WHY WE ACT THIS WAY.......2004-03-27
Each day for twenty-something years I woke up to see reality as it was presented to me. I noticed many patterns in life that are hard not to notice -- such as the difference between men and women in how they approach sexual opportunities. Men will readily say yes, women firmly no. Why?
Evolution is such an intriguing and elegant theory on its approach to our current behavior. Boss's contention is that the present behaviors we see today in our modern era -- fear of snakes, high male sexual drive -- arose from our ancestors. Those who did not have such characteristics did not become our ancestors. Thus, over time, certain characteristics were more likely to be successful in the mating process, and those are the same characteristics we see today. Boss's insight required a lot of keen intellectual insight into many different hypothesis.
Some of these hypothesis seemed far-fetched at first. Who would think that there would be statistical differences in how maternal grandparents v. paternal grandparents relate to their grandchildren. There are, however. Maternal grandmothers have less risk in investing in a grandchild who is not biologically related since she is confident that her daughter is biologically hers, and she can be certain that her daughter's child is biologically related, too. The hypothesis that paternal grandfathers would be most distant -- since they have the most to lose -- turned out to be true. (Paternal grandfathers cannot be 100% certain that they fathered their son or daughter, and thus, they cannot be sure that that child's son or daughter is biologically related).
This is perhaps one of the most important contributions in scientific literature since Watson and Clark's published report on their findings of DNA.
Michael Gordon
A thorough, rigorous, and illuminating book........2002-06-01
David Buss, author of The Evolution of Desire and The Dangerous Passion, brings his formidable intellect, research experience, knowledge, and writing talent to bear in this impressive introduction to the field of Evolutionary Psychology. It is obvious from reading the book that it was painstakingly researched. An impressive breadth of research studies in evolutionary psychology and relevant work from other disciplines, including anthropology, biology, and sociology are clearly explained and their implications discussed. Alternative hypotheses and interpretations of research, where alternatives have been explicitly proposed, are even-handedly explored. The chapters of the book are organized by the kinds of problems of survival and reproduction faced by our ancestors. This organization makes the broad range of specific research covered in the book easy to understand and integrate into a coherent understanding of the evolutionary origins of human cognition and behavior. Thought-provoking, absorbing, and exceptionally well written: Dr. Buss's Evolutionary Psychology text is an absolute joy to read. It is a must-have for psychologists, biologists, and any student of human nature.
Procede with Caution.......2001-01-13
I have not read the text book. I am a former student of Dr. Buss' and suspect that it will be as vacant in theory as his previous literary attempts. Evolutionary Psychology is an extremely interesting field, but as with any field must be considered in an interdisciplanary manner. The reviewers that make blanket statements about Evolutionary Psychology being the only world view might benefit from reading some philosophy without prejudging it as merely a coping mechanism. For those of you who considering purchasing this book, the last time I spoke with Dr. Buss, he had only very superficial knowledge of the more detailed and sophisticated theories in this field of study and this will probably be reflected in the text book. To be fair, his writing is often enjoyable and as others have said, does read like a novel, but do not mistake this for depth of knowledge.
Book Description
WASPs finally get their due in this stimulating history by one of the world's leading geneticists.
Saxons, Vikings, and Celts is the most illuminating book yet to be written about the genetic history of Britain and Ireland. Through a systematic, ten-year DNA survey of more than 10,000 volunteers, Bryan Sykes has traced the true genetic makeup of British Islanders and their descendants. This historical travelogue and genetic tour of the fabled isles, which includes accounts of the Roman invasions and Norman conquests, takes readers from the Pontnewydd cave in North Wales, where a 300,000-year-old tooth was discovered, to the resting place of "The Red Lady" of Paviland, whose anatomically modern body was dyed with ochre by her grieving relatives nearly 29,000 years ago. A perfect work for anyone interested in the genealogy of England, Scotland, or Ireland, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts features a chapter specifically addressing the genetic makeup of those people in the United States who have descended from the British Isles.
Customer Reviews:
Genes and history.......2007-10-16
Last summer I read Sykes' The Seven Daughters of Eve, very much liked his insights into mitochondrial DNA research, but was turned off by his fictionalized Eves. In Saxons, Vikings, and Celts, his detective story is on much firmer footing as he sets out to validate historical events with DNA evidence. As a Scot, I had mixed feelings to find so many of the myths about Celts and Picts somewhat debunked.
important but disappointing.......2007-09-03
In many ways this is a very important book, as it does away with the old Anglo-Saxon myth. But it's also quite disappointing. Having read an artilcle summarizing Sykes' discoveries before I lay my hands on a copy of 'Saxons...' I was already familiar with its main conclusion - most British have very ancient origins preceding Vikings, Saxons, and Romans and perhaps to some extent this was the source of my disappointment. But mostly it comes from my too high expectations. In short, I hoped for a solid work with plenty of data, information and analyses of the genetic roots of Britain and Ireland. But the hard data filled only a few pages and the rest was a waffle, inflating the book to over 300 pages where 10 sentences would suffice.
If somebody wants to read page after page on how Sykes and his team struggled to collect the blood samples then it's a book for them. However, if you want to know the genetic background of peoples who settled in the Isles in more detail, then perhaps wait for a more informative book.
Sykes Latest Hit.......2007-08-16
Brian Sykes does it again with this most interesting book about origins of the people of the British Isles. He makes technical information understandable for the average reader.
More history than DNA.......2007-08-13
I got this book because Oppenheimer's Origin of the British is out of print and not available until 2008. This Sykes book is excellent history, but not as much about the DNA story as I expected. But it is a good read. What is surprising and intersting is that Oppenheimer and Sykes, both Oxford scholars, do not acknowdege each other existance. Does anyone know why?
The Key: Oisin = R1b, Sigurd = R1a, Eshu = E3b, ..........2007-08-09
The apparent result of Sykes' study is that the underlying genetics of the Isles is Celtic through all of the regions: England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. This may not make Sykes popular with some people. The old stereotypes do not hold up.
In this work, Sykes continues to use the names for the founders of the haplogroups that he created in "The Seven Daughters of Eve" but he does not list all of the standard equivalents. You cannot tell the players without a scorecard. However, I have found the answer on the web. For yDNA: R1b, Oisin; R1a, Sigurd; I, Wodan; E3b, Eshu; J, Re. For mDNA: J, Jasmine; T, Tara; H, Helena; K, Katrina; U, Ursala; V, Velda; X, Xenia.
The Isles were the subject of waves of invasion from Romans, Saxons, Vikings, and Normans among others. One of the results of Sykes work is that two of the best known invaders left very little genetic trace. Sykes could find virtually no evidence of Roman DNA. Where was Titus Pullo? The Normans also left very little genetic evidence. It came as no surprise to me that my own Eshu or E3b yDNA was not significant, comprising a scattered percent or two. My E3b haplogroup is found mostly in the region of the warm and sunny Mediterranean, not the wet and cold Isles.
Book Description
A comprehensive reference on diagnosis and evaluation of reproductive risks and genetically related high-risk pregnancies. Authored by international group of experts, this book is organized according to diagnostic method, source of reproductive risk, and system under evaluation. Features the latest imaging technology, a review of genetics, molecular biology, and cytogenetics, and special chapters on counseling, cross-cultural, legal, and ethical issues.
Book Description
This Updated 7th edition features a new section, "Genetic Control," at the end of the text. This section complements Cummings' coverage with a series of cases from noted medical ethicist, Dr. Ronald Munson, which investigate the issues surrounding the stem-cell debate, genetic counseling, genetic testing and reproductive decisions, and gene therapy. These cases are reinforced with original readings from other noted geneticists, ethicists, and medical policy makers. The result is a text that will draw students into the most current research in genetics and educate them on the latest challenges facing physicians, researchers, and society. Instructors will find this Seventh Edition of HUMAN HEREDITY current, clear, and complemented by an amazing array of technology for students and instructors. Additional student support includes Human GeneticsNow, a password-protected website integrated with the Seventh Edition that provides students with access to diagnostic Pre-Tests and Post-Tests for each chapter. It automatically generates customized learning plans for students, directing them to text information and ancillaries that help them master specific concepts. Active Figures in the text, indicated by a media icon, have corresponding narrated animations on the Human GeneticsNow site that are included in the customized Learning Plan along with additional animations and media assets. For instructors, a Multimedia Manager provides all of the art and photos from the text in PowerPoint form, and, lectures can be further enhanced by using animations and videos on human heredity topics.
Customer Reviews:
Good Into Book.......2007-07-25
One of the better intro books I've read. Has a lot of info in an easy to read manner.
Great book on genetics.......1999-05-03
This book effectively conveys interesting, detailed material without confusing the reader. It is not the typical staugy textbook that we college students are so use to as this book made me want to read it, it was so enjoyable. I recommend it to all college students or anyone interested in genetics that would like to understand our genetic principles.
An accurate and concice look into Human Genetics........1998-03-17
This is a wonderful book for a college level exploration of Human Genetics. The chapters introduce every topic well, and in such a way that science majors will remain interested while non science majors aren't left behind. It is a great book to begin to explore the wonders of Human Genetics.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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Similar Items:
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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
Following the completion of the Human Genome Project the content and organization of the third edition of Human Molecular Genetics has been thoroughly revised.
*
Part One (Chapters 1-7) covers basic material on DNA structure and function, chromosomes, cells and development, pedigree analysis and the basic techniques used in the laboratory.
*
Part Two (Chapters 8-12) discusses the various genome sequencing projects and the insights they provide into the organization, expression, variation and evolution of our genome.
*
Part Three
(Chapters 13-18) focuses on mapping, identifying and diagnosing the genetic causes of mendelian and complex diseases and cancer.
*
Part Four (Chapters 19-21) looks at the wider horizons of functional genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, animal models and therapy.
There are new chapters on cells and development and on functional genomics. The sections on complex diseases have been completely rewritten and reorganized, as has the chapter on Genome Projects. Other changes include a new section on molecular phylogenetics (Chapter 12) and the introduction of 'Ethics Boxes' to discuss some of the implications of the new knowledge. Virtually every page has been revised and updated to take account of the stunning developments of the past four years since the publication of the last edition of Human Molecular Genetics.
features:
* Integration of Human Genome Project data throughout the book
* Two new chapters 'Cells and Development' (Chapter 3) and 'Beyond the Genome Project: Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics' (Chapter 19)
* Completely rewritten and reorganized coverage of complex disease genetics
* Increased emphasis on gene function and on applications of genetic knowledge, including ethical issues
* More prominence given to novel approaches to treating disease, such as cell-based therapies, pharmacogenomics, and personalized medicine
* Special topic boxes that include detailed coverage of ethical, legal and social issues, including eugenics, genetic testing and discrimination, germ-line gene therapy and genetic enhancement, and human cloning
* Contains two indices: a general index and one that contains names of diseases and disorders.
Customer Reviews:
Nice illustrations.......2007-10-11
This book is a pretty good read for thoes with advanced genetics knowledge. It reviews some of the more basic processes in the beginning before diving into the human stuff. As a warning though, it doesnt really hide anything like a beginning bio book so know what your getting yoruself into.
clinical geneticist.......2007-03-12
each addition of this text provides a close to current state of the science review of human molecular genetics, it is an excellent way to update onself about the field.
Excellent Reference Text Book for Moelcular Biology.......2007-02-18
I have used this book earlier for my post-doctoral research work and now I am using this book for the online Medical Laboratory Diagnostic course that I am taking. This is an excellent text book for students and researchers. This book not only offers detailed insight into the fundamentals of human molecular genetics but also gives a review of DNA and chromosome structure and function, cellular development, population genetics, cancer genetics, gene therapy, and different techniques of molecular genetic, its applications, and analyses. The figures and illustrations complement the text very well and are easy to understand. I would highly recommend "Human Molecular Genetics" by Tom Strachan and Andrew P. Read to senior-level college students, undergraduate students, graduate students, technologist working in a Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory and researchers.
Good book, nice figures........2007-02-16
I've only read through chapter 8 so far, but the text is understandable and the figures are clear and helpful--especially in the human genome project chapter, which had the potential to be very confusing.
Excellent reference for students and researchers........2007-01-05
This book offers detailed insight into the fundamentals of human molecular genetics. The contents review DNA and chromosome structure and function, cellular development, population genetics, cancer genetics, gene therapy, and a myriad of molecular genetic techniques, applications, and analyses. The figures and illustrations beautifully complement the text with easily understood captions and legends. The organization of the book is such that the reader can easily find a topic of interest without thumbing through the entire text. I would highly recommend "Human Molecular Genetics" by Tom Strachan and Andrew P. Read to senior-level college students, graduate students, and researchers. This is a must-have in the library of any geneticist.
Book Description
Science tells us we're all related—one vast family sharing a common ancestor who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago. But countless questions remain about our great journey from the birthplace of Homo sapiens to the ends of the Earth. How did we end up where we are? When did we get there? Why do we display such a wide range of colors and features? The fossil record offers some answers, but exciting new genetic research reveals many more, since our DNA carries a complete chronicle of our species and its migrations.
In Deep Ancestry, scientist and explorer Spencer Wells shows how tiny genetic changes add up over time into a fascinating story. Using scores of real-life examples, helpful analogies, and detailed diagrams and illustrations, he translates complicated concepts into accessible language and explains exactly how each and every individual's DNA contributes another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of human history. The book takes readers inside the Genographic Project, the landmark study now assembling the world's largest collection of population genetic DNA samples and employing the latest in testing technology and computer analysis to examine hundreds of thousands of genetic profiles from all over the globe.
Traveling backward through time from today's scattered billions to the handful of early humans who are ancestors to us all, Deep Ancestry shows how universal our human heritage really is. It combines sophisticated science with our compelling interest in family history and ethnic identity—and transcends humankind's shallow distinctions and superficial differences to touch the depths of our common origins.
Customer Reviews:
Great ongoing story, but too similar to previous book.......2007-08-07
If you have read The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, you may find this book a bit of a let down. It is not that it is badly written, nor is the story uninteresting. It is just that the narrative has not advanced enough since the last book. There are some interesting additions, but a lot of repeat information. I would start with the DVD Journey of Man. After that you could read either book, but I recall enjoying Journey of Man better. Having said that, I will be looking for the next one because the research is fascinating.
Very Good Book.......2007-07-16
Much help in my quest to learn more about DNA, and my past.
Not for the faint of heart.......2007-05-13
An explanation of the growing efforts all over the world to utilize DNA in discovering ancestral groups, tracing immigration paths, and the significance of the various groups. For a non-science major, this is a challenge. I'm sure the author tried to explain in the clearest language possible, but it is still a stretch for the average reader.
Not disappointed........2007-05-13
As a participant in the Genographic Project I looked forward to reading more in depth about the project. I found the material interesting and well organized.
Mapping the spread of mankind.......2007-05-07
We each inherit half our DNA from each parent, but not all of it is equally split: the Y chromosome always comes from the father, and the mitochondrial DNA, since it's part of the original egg cell, always comes from the mother. Thus, except for mutations, a man's Y chromosome is identical to his father's, his father's father's, and so on back into the mists of time. The same is true on the maternal line for mitochondrial DNA. This provides a great opportunity: analyzing markers on these specific chromosomes allows geneticists to trace one's ancestors back to the last common ancestor on either side, the so-called mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam. More, whenever there is a mutation, it is inherited down the population line to all future generations, so as populations spread out, the lines can continue to be followed. Examining the DNA of people all around the world, particularly those belonging to indigenous populations that have been in one place for many generations (as contrasted with your typical American mixed breed), allows geneticists to trace the spread of human beings across the globe.
This, in brief, is the Genographic Project, perhaps the most significant undertaking ever for an organization known for its significant undertakings, the National Geographic Society. This book tells the story of the project so far. It starts with a much more in-depth explanation of the concepts that I only describe briefly above, then goes on to relate the findings so far. Just as expected, humans originated in Africa: all the lines can be traced back there, and by far the greatest genetic diversity is to be found there. The later chapters start by describing the ancestry of specific individuals, then generalizing from there to cover the overall movements. Fifty thousand years ago one of the very first band of humans left Africa, and some of them made their way all the way down to Australia, becoming the ancestors of the aborigines. Other bands stopped in the Middle East, while still others populated eastern Asia, eventually moving, about ten or twenty thousand years ago, across a frozen Bering Strait into the Americas.
The whole is much more complicated than this. In fact, there's a fifty-page appendix that described the movements of the key populations at the end. If I have a criticism of this book, it's that there is too much text and not enough diagrams. It would be nice to have a great big map, along the lines of the ones National Geographic is known for, depicting all these moves and splits, rather than having to read comparatively cumbersome words about it.
That being said, this is a fascinating project and fascinating to read about.
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