Product Description
Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Textbook for undergraduates and graduates familiar with basic genetics. Assumes knowledge of meiosis and Mendelian genetics. Two themes prevail: How do we establish that a trait is hereditary? and How can the properties of a trait be explained by the underlying molecular causes? End-of-chapter exercises are included. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

tough text to get to grips with
I couldn't get to grips with the style of this book. I'll warn you now that the author assumes alot about the reader, that you have a firm understanding of genetic principles and terms - this narrows the target audience to I would say a specialist in genetics. This is not a general text - look to Strachan and Reads Human Molecular Genetics for that. The style of the book is conflicting with the content which is obviously a vast subject, the author is almost in conversation with you just reeling information off as the subject requires. It makes it hard to follow the themes sometimes. If you are confident in genetics and, and have things straight in your mind regarding the theories and application, then you will profit from a viewing of this book, if not then I think you will struggle. The author in my opinion should consider a little more about delivery of the content, (style is important with so much to cover!) than the 'throw out as much information as you can' approach. A tricky text it caused me to re-read, and re-read, and re-read, and.... ... Read more

Product Description
In a journey across four continents, acclaimed science writer Steve Olson traces the origins of modern humans and the migrations of our ancestors throughout the world over the past 150,000 years. Like Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, Mapping Human History is a groundbreaking synthesis of science and history. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including the latest genetic research, linguistic evidence, and archaeological findings, Olson reveals the surprising unity among modern humans and "demonstrates just how naive some of our ideas about our human ancestry have been" (Discover).Olson offers a genealogy of all humanity, explaining, for instance, why everyone can claim Julius Caesar and Confucius as forebears. Olson also provides startling new perspectives on the invention of agriculture, the peopling of the Americas, the origins of language, the history of the Jews, and more. An engaging and lucid account, Mapping Human History will forever change how we think about ourselves and our relations with others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (52)

a good read
This book by Steve Olson is about DNA andwhere we human beings came from.For instance he says that all of the 6 billion people alive today have descended from a small group of anatomically modern humans who once lived in eastern Africa.
Historically wherever modern humans met and perhaps mixed with the earlier human beings the older human beings eventually disappeared.

Fascinating reading.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

Mapping Human History
This is an interesting and well-written book about how our DNA proves that all human beings alive on earth today descend from one man and one woman.He then proceeds to explain how human beings spread from Africa to the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Polynesia, and America.There are some mysteries regarding some of the relationships between the gene pools - for example, there is a group of genes called Haplogroup X, which is found only in Europe and among the Druze, that is found in Amerindian remains from graves that predate Columbus and, by the divergence between the European/Druze group and the Amerindian group, they were separated about 10,000 years.Haplogroup X has never been found among the Asian groups that the other Haplogroups of the Amerindians match.One statement in the book I underlined as it matches my own philosophy about race: "Genetics research is now about to end our long misadventure with the idea of race.We now know that groups overlap genetically to such a degree that humanity cannot be divided into clear categories." (Page 6 - 7).The author states over and over that we are all generically related.One of my favorite sentences from the book is, "Everyone in the world today is most likely descended from Nefertiti (through the six daughters she had with Akhenaton), from Confucius (through the son and daughter he is said to have had), and from Julius Caesar (through his illegitimate children, not through Julia, who died in childbirth)."(Page 47).No wonder my father looked like a bust of Julius Caesar!

Misleading account
"No significant difference was found in genes belong to different races"

Olson seems to subordinate science for political reasons. That's fair enough, but it doesn't make him correct. For instance, saying there is no difference in genes is misleading. In terms of mtDNA, there is greater difference between dogs, wolves, and coyotes, than there is between ethnic groups of human beings. Geneticists measure genetic diversity within a species by determining the average heterozygosity of the species' genome, or the likelihood of its having more than one variant of any given gene. Humans have an average heterozygosity of around 0.7, whereas dogs' is about 0.4.

Also consider the paper 'Global landscape of recent inferred Darwinian
selection for Homo sapiens' by Eric T. Wang*, Greg Kodama, Pierre Baldi, and Robert K. Moyzis.

This analysis suggested that around 1800 genes, or roughly 7% of the total in the human genome, have changed under the influence of natural selection within the past 50,000 years. We only have a vague idea what most of these 1,800 genes do. It will take years to figure out the uses of each one, so Olson is premature in his comments. (the Gene Expression site provides a pretty up to date account on genetic findings).

There is overlap between groups and you have to account for environmental factors, but Olson seems more intent on whitewashing the whole area rather than presenting a balanced account.

ROFLCOPTER!
I went to google.com and searched my name...Jarred Stephen Olson. Then I clicked the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button and it came to this book. The funny thing is, my dads name is Steve Olson, and look who the author is :p

The Truth About the origin of Race and Its new Meaning
This skillfully written book by a scientist/journalist reports on his groundbreaking research into the origins of the "anatomically modern human," which he tracks across 100,000 years of history to a small group who once lived in eastern Africa. Although it still remains a mystery as to how this one group survived when other less modern humans did not, the archaeological evidence does not show that conflict was the cause.

The DNA research which forms the basis of this book, dispels once and for all the whole fabric of the myth of race. Revealing that the inconsequential biological differences that have been so enlarged to provide social rationalization and justifications for discrimination, genocide and war, throughout the world for most of man's history, could not account for the drastic cultural differences between groups.

In looking at DNA histories of five broad regional groups, the only conclusion that a thoughtful reader can derive from this research is that evolving biological differences seem almost assuredly to have been driven by cultural differences rather than the other way around.

Five Stars ... Read more

Product Description
Today, many scholars show more interest in unscientific attempts to empathize with ancient peoples than in obtaining valid knowledge about the past. Archaeologists have become failed ethnographers, forever regretting the demise of the people they would like to talk to. Stephen Shennan provides an ambitious blueprint for a new approach to archaeology, based on the application of the latest neo-Darwinian evolutionary ideas.

What is the history of human populations? How are cultural traditions maintained and changed over time? Why did people destroy their environments in the past and were they ever conservationists? What led to the emergence of marked social inequalities? These are some of the important questions that evolutionary archaeology can answer.

Shennan opens with the study of animal behavior, as acted upon by natural selection, and goes on to demonstrate that the same ideas can be applied to human societies, not just through the genes but also through culture, our second inheritance system. He then looks in detail at population history, methods of subsistence, male-female relations, social evolution, and competition and warfare. Fascinating insights emerge. For example, the unique time-depth of archaeology can be used to show that human populations have expanded and then crashed far more frequently in the past than has hitherto been realized. Similarly, the rise of plough agriculture may well have led to increasing control of women by men.

Ranging from life history theory to game theory, and from the origins of farming to the collapse of societies, the book takes us on a thrilling intellectual journey. 50 b/w illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent information, dry presentation
I remember this as an interesting application of evolutionary psychology and memetic theory to archeology, written by an archaeologist.The writing style isn't very engaging though - it's a very slow slog at times.

Shennan does, however, have one of the best approaches to the debate about memetic theory:

"It seems that we still do not understand the psychological mechanisms involved in cultural inheritance, which remain the object of ongoing debate and investigation.However, rather than worry too much about this and assume that we cannot make any progress until the mechanism is fully understood, the way forward for archaeologists and anthropologists, if not for psychologists, seems to be to ignore the psychological mechanisms and accept that, whatever they may be, they lead to culture having the characteristics of an inheritance system with adaptive consequences.Even if the meme concept in the strict sense is problematical, the word meme has been such a successful meme itself that it represents a useful shorthand way of referring to the idea that culture is an evolutionary system involving inheritance.Archeology is particularly interested in those cases where the information passed on concerns ways of making and using artifacts. ... We can ask what are the population level processes characteristic of this inheritance system.This is what biologists did before they understood genetics.They could still measure the heritability of particular traits from one generation to the next without knowing the mechanisms involved.Indeed, it is well known that Darwin came up with his theory of natural selection while holding a completely erroneous view about how genetic transmission worked. "

Superior Ideas in a Dry Wrapper
Shennan lays the groundwork for an archaeology beyond bones and tools and tells us where it can lead.He specifically addresses both the ability of archaeology to develop theories and its limitations when supporting them.
Of particular interest are his chapters of interpretation, which build on his rather dry theorectical framework.These include a fascinating description of the origin of agriculture and the role of women in early societies.
I found much of the book to be a hard read.Shennan's writing style is often long-winded and full of self-referential vocabulary used in a very precise way.One can perhaps forgive his style as the need to satisfy potential critics in his own academic community.Still, I have a strong preference for clear writing and Shennan does not always offer that.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to acquire a solid high-level understanding of the state of archaeological interpretation or the limits of the science, but be ready to find a quite room and a good reading lamp. ... Read more

Product Description
Never Highlight a Book Again! Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives the student all of the highlights, notes, and access to the practice-tests for their textbook. Only Cram101 is Textbook Specific, not generic. Cram101 Texbook Outlines are in a lecture notebook format for taking in-class notes. ... Read more

Product Description
News stories report almost daily that scientists have linked a certain gene to a disease like Alzheimer’s or macular degeneration, or to a condition like depression or autism, or to a trait like aggressiveness or anxiety. Accompanying this remarkable progress in unraveling the genetic basis of disease and behavior are new technologies that are rapidly reducing the cost of reading someone’s personal DNA (all six billion letters of it). Within the next ten years, hospitals may present parents with their newborn’s complete DNA code along with her footprints and APGAR score. In Genetic Twists of Fate, distinguished geneticists Stanley Fields and Mark Johnston help us make sense of the genetic revolution that is upon us.

Fields and Johnston tell real life stories that hinge on the inheritance of one tiny change rather than another in an individual’s DNA: a mother wrongly accused of poisoning her young son when the true killer was a genetic disorder; the mountain-climbing brothers with a one-in-two chance of succumbing to Huntington’s disease; the screen siren who could no longer remember her lines because of Alzheimer’s disease; and the president who was treated with rat poison to prevent another heart attack. In an engaging and accessible style, Fields and Johnston explain what our personal DNA code is, how a few differences in its long list of our DNA letters makes each of us unique, and how that code influences our appearance, our behavior, and our risk for such common diseases as diabetes or cancer. ... Read more

Product Description

This concise guidebook consolidates the main concepts of the cancer gene theory, and provides a framework for understanding the genetic basis of cancer. Focused on the most highly representative genes that underlie the most common cancers, the book is aimed at advanced undergraduates who have completed introductory courses in genetics, biology and biochemistry, medical students, and house medical house staff preparing for board examinations. Primary attention is devoted to the origins of cancer genes and the application of evolutionary theory to explain why the cell clones that harbor cancer genes tend to expand.

Customer Reviews (2)

A Wonderful Short Overview of Cancer Genetics
I had this sitting on my shelf as a backup reference for a few months and finally opened the book. At first I was not impressed but when I began reading it the book is exceptional in its clarity and scope of presentation. If one has read Weinberg, the bible if cancer genetics introduction, then this appears to be quite a step down, but in reality it distills and focuses the topics exceptionally well. Whereas Weinberg goes into massive detail, and rightly so, Bunz focuses on a laser with short clear descriptions and presentations.

Chapter 1 details the now well understood ways in which cell DNA destruction happens. There is a good short presentation of the Vogelstein model and a setting up of the genetic flows which control the steps in the conversion of cells to the metastatic state. The graphics are crisp and well done and satisfy the point to be made.

Chapter 2 is on oncogenes and the chapter provides a good historical perspective and also establishes the lead in for the following chapters. The viral oncogene discussion is typical for its clarity and briefness. It reads very well to the experienced eye and I suspect it will do as well for the uninitiated. I also found the PIK3CA discussion on kinases exceptionally well done and useful for staging the follow on topics.

Chapter 3 on tumor supressor genes is also well done. The discussion on APC and p53 is a good overview and provides adequate basis for building on the topic.The PTEN discussion also establishes the now well understood need to focus on PTEN since it plays such a critical role in many cancers such as that of the prostate.

Chapter 4 is on gene instability and puts all of the elements together.

Chapter 5 is in my opinion the best and it is on the pathways. This is a significant area because by understanding what they are and how to control them perhaps a wealth of treatment options may become available.The author starts with the full pathway map and then goes pathway by pathway. I found the discussion here more focused and clearer than Weinberg. Clearly Weinberg is the gold standard but by reading through Bunz Chapter 5 one can get a short focused and integrated discussion.

Chapter 6 then takes these principles and looks at them from a cancer by cancer set of lenses. This is useful and it allows the reader to focus in on specifics and what is known and not known.

Chapter 7 provides a brief clinical overview.

All in all a superb little gem worth being on many a desk. I find it is worth going back to from time to time.

Yet there is a gap in the literature that this could have addressed, that is the development of true pathway modeling. The ability to link proteins and enzymes to genes, the detailed epigenetic controls, and the catalyst of secondary pathways and inter-cellular communications. Perhaps it is still too early since much of this is yet to be developed in a fully systematic fashion in the literature.

Very nice new book on cancer genetics
This new book on Cancer Genetics, written in its entirety by Dr. Fred Bunz of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, provides a a very nice introduction to modern Cancer Genetics. It is appropriate for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, as well as medical students. The writing is lucid and concise, and the many figures and diagrams provide useful visual emphasis for particularly important points. Overall, this is an outstanding new volume that would provide a useful backdrop for courses in Cancer Genetics and Biology, as well as being a useful laboratory reference. ... Read more

Product Description
Basic Human Genetics, Second Edition , describes the general principles of genetics and how the rules apply to humans. It presents genetics as an area of active worldwide research where partial results of current investigations prompt a wealth of new questions. The book describes many medical conditions and discusses their environmental and genetic causes, chain of symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and ethical problems.The new edition also contains details of many new research results from the last few years. To aid students, each chapter has figures, tables, boxes, a summary, key terms, questions, further reading and Web links. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent for genetics "newbies"
My professor gave me this book & I love it. Has simple explanations and great diagrams to ease in learning the basics of genetics. ... Read more

Product Description
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD. describing genes and/or phenotypes representing individual genes. The entries are assembled into four catalogs according to which group they relate to. Previous edition: c1994. For students, researchers, and clinicians. CD-ROM and study guide were not published simultaneously. DNLM: Genetics, Medical--bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mendelian Inheritance in man
It's a very important book to consult in my work. We can consult by internet pages but it is not the same. Look for information in a book is a very different experience, when I can do it, I prefered. ... Read more

Product Description
This remarkable publication focuses on the importance of genetics in mental retardation, investigating the extent to which molecular diagnostic capability and the understanding of genetic causes have improved over recent years. As a result, clinical evaluation and diagnostic laboratory practice are now undergoing an unprecedented period of change. In a single volume, a unique combination of key individuals and world-class clinical, diagnostic and research-based experts share specialized, state-of the-art knowledge in this field. The parents' perspective lies behind chapters dealing with issues such as: classification nomenclature; well-known syndromes; how modern technologies have resulted in newly identified syndromes; how genome architecture can influence disease; guidelines for clinical evaluation; valuable database resources for clinical, diagnostic and research departments; challenges involved in data interpretation and determining clinical relevance; genetic overlaps with autism and schizophrenia; and, processes of health service implementation. "Genetics of Mental Retardation" is an invaluable resource for researchers and students with an active interest in the field.Furthermore, consultants and trainees in clinical genetics and pediatrics, and researchers working in clinical genetics laboratories will benefit from these reviews. ... Read more

Product Description
What does it mean to be human? There are many theories of the evolution of human behavior which seek to explain how our brains evolved to support our unique abilities and personalities. Most of these have focused on the role of brain size or specific genetic adaptations of the brain. In contrast, Fred Previc presents a provocative theory that high levels of dopamine, the most widely studied neurotransmitter, account for all major aspects of modern human behavior. He further emphasizes the role of epigenetic rather than genetic factors in the rise of dopamine. Previc contrasts the great achievements of the dopaminergic mind with the harmful effects of rising dopamine levels in modern societies and concludes with a critical examination of whether the dopaminergic mind that has evolved in humans is still adaptive to the health of humans and to the planet in general. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Refreshingly Bold and Provocative Speculations on the Origins of the Modern Human Mind
If there is one personality trait that is bred into scientists, it surely is caution in making broad claims.The broader the claim, the more likely it will be met with resistance.This caution often results in hyper-specialization because there is safety in staying in the comfortable boundaries of one's specialty.

Yet, at the same time, the broader the claim, the greater a theory's potential explanatory and predictive power.And, only broad and wide-ranging theories can ever aspire to bridge the islands of specialties and sub-specialties.Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is so powerful precisely because of its wide-ranging explanatory and predictive power.Elegantly simple, the theory of evolution by natural selection has quite simply brought order to the biological sciences.

The premise of Dr. Previc's "The Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History" has the character of such a wide-ranging, unifying theory.In fact, it has many of the qualities of a "theory of everything"--connecting evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, personality psychology, and other disciplines with a singular connecting thread.That thread is "dopamine"--the most studied neurotransmitter.

Briefly, Dr. Previc presents the provocative theory that approximately 80,000 years ago, high levels of dopamine led to the profound developmental leaps that most set modern man apart from his human and primate relatives.To do so, he follows the thread of dopamine through the critical cognitive skills of motor programming, working memory, cognitive flexibility, abstract representations, temporal analysis/sequencing, and generativity/creativivity.

While, according to Previc, dopamine has been critical to the development of advanced human intelligence and language, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.In fact, Previc links an excess of dopamine to such individual disorders as autism (shades of Simon Baron-Cohen's "extreme male brain") , schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder--and to such social dysfunctions as "endless wars and conquests, alienation from the land, stratification of society, inequality between the sexes, a reduction of leisure time, increased detachment and even alienation from our fellow human, increased mental illness, and more recently, serious environmental degradation."

Personally, I was most intrigued by Dr. Previc's speculations on the effect of substantial increases in brain dopamine on the personalities of well-known historic figures.In a chapter dedicated to what he calls the "Dopaminergic Personality in History", Previc describes how the lives of Alexander the Great, Christopher Columbus, Isaac Newton, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Albert Einstein evidence the influence of high levels of dopamine.According to Previc, this personality is characterized by a high degree of intelligence, a sense of personal destiny, a religious/cosmic preoccupation, and enormous focus (obsession) with achieving supreme goals and conquests, an emotional detachment that in many cases leads to ruthlessness, and a risk-taking mentality that can lead to consequences ranging from merely embarrassing to the outright disastrous.

The "dopaminergic society" is essentially the dopaminergic personality writ large.It is a extremely goal-oriented society.It is fast-paced and even manic "given that dopamine is known to increase activity levels, speed up our internal clocks and create a preference for novel over unchanging environments." In the same way that high dopamine individuals lack empathy and exhibit a more masculine behavioral style, dopaminergic societies are "typified by more conquest, competition, and aggression than nurturance and communality."In a such societies high dopamine individuals thrive, and through their influence, these individuals in turn increase the dopaminergic qualities of society.

Dr. Previc concludes his book with two chapters that offer prescriptions for addressing what he calls the "hyperdopaminergic syndrome"--non-adaptive high levels of dopamine.

Dr. Previc is a research scientist, and there is no mistaking that this book is steeped in the language of neuroscience.The book is somewhere in between the type of explication you would see in a science journal article and a book intended for a wider audience of people interested in developments in neuroscience.For the non-scientist, it is a challenging but not dauntingly inaccessible book.I suspect that those scientists and non-scientists who have an interest in evolutionary psychology, personality psychology and neuroscience will be the most intrigued by "The Dopaminergic Mind in Evolution and History."

Previc's claims are broad and thought provoking.If true, I suspect that the theory of the dopaminergic mind will have wide-ranging explanatory and predictive power.If wrong, the theory is still refreshingly thought provoking, and is an exemplar of the kind of bold theorizing that should be welcomed in the sciences in the interest of bridging the safe islands of specialization that have arisen with the overwhelming increase in scientific knowledge.If one thing characterizes this book it is a powerful impulse to build these bridges.I thoroughly enjoyed reading along as Dr. Previc wove his dopamine thread through such seemingly disconnected islands as testosterone, yin yang, war, brain lateralization, Napoleon's personality, mental illness, and hunter gatherer tribes.

Ironically, if Previc is correct, it is dopamine itself that makes possible the intelligence to identify the dangers of the "too much of a good thing" that is dopamine "gone wild."

(My only major complaint is that this 200 some page book was priced by Cambridge University Press for the library market.I think it should have been priced for a broader market.Hopefully they will consider repricing the book or doing a paperback edition in the near future to eliminate any resistance prospective readers may have to getting this important book.)


... Read more

Product Description
This book provides a comprehensive overview of host geneticfactors that influence susceptibility to infectious diseases. It dealswith the role of infections as evolutionary forces, methods ofidentifying susceptibility genes, the role of susceptibility genes inthe pathogenesis of infectious disease, as well as with theapplication of this knowledge in public health policy, vaccinedevelopment, and animal breeding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Genetics of Infectious Disease Susceptibility
The book was in great condition and I received it within several days of the order! ... Read more

Product Description
The sequencing of the human genome reveals our complete complement of genetic material. The sequenced human genome is one of the most international biomedical research projects ever, which is important in our current often all-too-fractured world. This book defines the function of all 'unknown' human genes, delineates the functional and phenotypic significance of human genetic variants in humans, and explores the functions of the vast non-genic regions of the human genome. Human genome sequencing has revealed a great opportunity to deeply investigate the biology and evolution of the sex chromosome pair at a more global level, allowing new frontiers in the genetics research, such as a detailed knowledge of the sequence and the gene content of these chromosomes. This book provides the most current research done in this area. ... Read more

Product Description
Gene Therapy describes the delivery systems now available to target a given tissue with specific gene or oligonucleotide sequences, and explores the utility of animal modules as test systems. In the context of selected disease states, it summarises in vitro and in vivo studies and clinical trials performed to date. ... Read more

Product Description
In The Limits and Lies of Human Genetic Research, Jonathan Kaplan weighs in on the controversial subject of the roles genes play in determining aspects of physical and behavioral human variation.Kaplan argues that genetic research is inadequate to support the conclusions that are often drawn in the media and technical journals about the genetic causes of such human traits as intelligence, depression, obesity, criminality and violence, and homosexuality.His concern lies in the ways that conclusions about the "genetic causes" of certain human traits can be and do get used in legal, political and social decision making.Limits and Lies makes the case that neither the information we have on genes nor on the environment is sufficient to explain the complex variations among humans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Demolishing The Icon of the Gene
I agree that the title is unfortunate. It doesn't convey that the book is a very scholarly and thoroughly referenced review of the "evidence" that genes contribute to the behaviors or conditions they are credited for. Kaplan spares no study which purports to suggest a genetic origin of several human behaviors or conditions: criminality, homosexuality, depression, IQ, obesity and others. He picks apart the research meticulously, and his conclusions are supported by a wealth of data.

I highly recommend this book to anyone working or interested in the fields of public health, medicine or genetics. Futher, this book is important for anyone who falls under one of the social designations Kaplan includes in his review. Though the text is laden with references and can be tedious to read, it is yet another significant blow to the notion of genetic determinism.

Still Not in Our Genes
This is a very important book that should be read by anyone who rejects the idea that our genes determine who we are.Kaplan systematically undermines the claims that there are, for example, 'genes for' intelligence, homosexuality, mental illness, obesity or committing crimes.Moreover, he clearly identifies the very limited nature of contemporary genetic research.

But Kaplan's main concern lies in challenging the ways in which claims about the supposedly genetic causes of human behavior and physiology get used in political and legal decision-making.So he argues that the search for a 'criminal gene' reinforces the idea that violence and criminality are the problem of the individual.Similarly, the creation of depression as a genetic disease makes depression out to be solely the result of a biochemical disorder of the brain and entirely disassociates it from society at large.The point here being that if criminality or mental illness are the result of our genetic make-up, if they are internal to the individual, then capitalism cannot be to blame for their prevalence, nor held responsible for doing something about them.

Kaplan's marshalling of evidence against the much of the research itself is what makes this book so valuable.For example, Hamer famously found a marker on the X chromosome which was highly correlated with male homosexuality in the population he considered.However, Kaplan points out that a 1999 study failed to confirm Hamer's results.Further, despite the strength of the supposed correlation, no gene has been located, let alone a biochemical pathway by which it is supposed to have its effect.

Another of Kaplan's criticisms of the homosexuality 'marker' is one that he argues applies to all human genetic research.Such research looks at the current make-up of a particular population, the particular environment of the population and the particular ways the various member organisms of the population are distributed within the environment.But, if any of these factors change the result in question can, and often does, change as well.In short, genetic research is a local measure that provides very little basis for the general claims that are implied by talk of a 'gene for' homosexuality or any other complex human behaviour.

Kaplan also takes on the claim that intelligence is coded in our genes.Here the evidence presented is some of the most striking in the whole book, especially where he challenges Murray and Herrnstein's The Bell Curve. Their claim is that an individual's social standing is based on how intelligent they are, which in turn is supposedly confirmed by performances on IQ tests.So, for example, differences in social standing between blacks and whites are supposedly due to differences in intelligence.While you don't need to read Kaplan's book to know that this is nonsense, he does provide the detailed evidence to show just how bankrupt and biased IQ testing is. For example, he notes that blacks who are told they are taking an IQ test significantly underperform compared to those who are not and that merely being asked to state one's race lowers the average scores of blacks but not whites.

This book clearly demonstrates that it is not our genes that explain why people commit crimes or fall mentally ill, why it's seen to matter whether people sleep with the opposite sex or their own, or why different ethnic groups fair worse than others.Given the limits of what present genetic research can tell us about who we are, Kaplan argues that we should look elsewhere for guidance in setting social policy, to the social nature of these issues.And while Kaplan does not explicitly suggest a collective response to these matters this is clearly where his arguments lead.

A Competent and Serious Book, Despite the Silly Title
The Standard Social Sciences Model (SSSM), virtually universally accepted in social science in the last half of the 20th Century, held that the human mind was a behavioral blank slate, so that human behavior could bedetermined by cultural socialization. For instance, all differences betweenmen and women were considered cultural, and the talents, aptitude, andpersonality of individuals was attributed completely to theirupbringing.

That model has been repeatedly falsified in recent yearsthrough a wide array of empirical data. Moreover, our increasing ability tolocated the neurological bases of human sociality and to discover thegenetic bases for some diseases has led to a complete turn-around in thepublic perception of the relative importance of genes and environment ininfluencing human behavior and health.

The popular understanding of thesescientific advances often takes the form of "its hereditary, sothere's nothing we can do about it." This book is a serious andinformed attempt to show that this interpretation is dead wrong. The bookis not light reading---it takes seriously the task at hand, and it assumesthe reader is willing to follow a complex scientific argument. But by doingso, the reader will be well rewarded.

The main point of the book is this:the fact that something is hereditary to a given degree says somethingabout the interaction of people with their environment. When heredity ishigh (as in the case of height, or IQ) it does not mean that we cannot findenvironments in which we can increase people's height, or equalize theirIQ's. Moreover, to a significant extent, people create their ownenvironments (niches), which appear mathematically as a product of genes,but misleadingly so.

For instance, height is highly heritable, butsucceeding generations of Americans are consistently taller than theirparents. IQ is heritable, but IQ scores rise dramatically from generationto generation (the Flynn effect).

The new genetic research should notmake us conservative and defeatist concerning the possibilities ofimproving the welfare of humanity, but rather guide and inform us in how tosearch for more effective environmental interventions.

There are problemswith Kaplan's book, however, and they are serious. First, he blames thecommon public view of the matter on the researchers ("Lies"),when almost all in the field (including me) agree wholly with his analysis,and say it again and again in print! Kaplan considers the new researchsomething of a right wing conspiracy against the welfare state, which isjust nonesense. He trots out the book by Herrnstein and Murray again andagain as an example, when he must know that virtually the whole behavioralgenetics community has criticized it vigorously. There are NO examples inhis book, as far as I can tell, where the researchers are at fault.

Infact, I see this reaction to behavioral genetics a lot fromwell-intentioned, progressive people, who wish we were back in the Good OldDays of the SSSM, where proper socialization and spending plenty of moneywere considered sufficient to solve social problems. Well, it just ain'tso. We will not get social policy on track in eliminating poverty, sexism,racism, or any of the other ills that Kaplan (and I) bemoan, until we workout the proper interaction of human nature, genetic potential, andenvironmental interaction. Just criticizing the scientists won't get usanywhere, I am afraid. ... Read more

Product Description
A fast moving research area where there is an ever-expanding interest, and which impacts upon a wide variety of genetic diseases. Important introductory section which considers the merits of methods employed in these studies, and examines factors which influence study design. Looks at the different approaches that have been taken to study complex inherited diseases by considering a variety of common diseases as models. Discusses the successes achieved through past studies, with implications for future research.
Multifactorial or complex diseases are those characterized by increased risks within families, caused by more than one gene, and which predominantly have a tremendous impact on morbidity and mortality in the general public. Examples of multifactorial diseases include: common cancers - breast, bowel, ovary etc.: Alzheimer's; epilepsy; diabetes; multiple sclerosis; schizophrenia and manic depression; asthma; rheumatoid arthritis etc.

Key Features
* Introductory overview of genetic diseases and how they are identified
* Concluding summary chapter looking at approaches taken and lessons learnt - and their relatived impacts
* Section on methods of statistical analysis and design issues researchers should consider in their studies
* Chapters focus on specific diseases as model systems and examples, and look at the application of different methodologies to different diseases ... Read more

Product Description
150,000 years of human existence have passed, and yet what do we really know about our history before the advent of writing? Some of the most momentous events - including our origins, our migrations across the globe, and our acquisition of language - were lost in the darkness of 'prehistory'. But at last geneticists and other scientists are piecing together a history - the true story of Adam and Eve. Mapping Human History is nothing less than a 'history of prehistory'. Steve Olson travelled through four continents to discover the development of humans and our expansion throughout the planet. He describes, for example, new thinking about how centres of agriculture sprang up among disparate foraging societies at roughly the same time. He tells why most of us can claim Julius Caesar and Confucius among our forebears. He pinpoints why the ways in which the story of the Jewish people jibes with, and diverges from, biblical accounts. And using very recent genetic findings, he explodes the myth that human races are a biological reality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

History of Man
Very informative and easy to read. Should be required in all high schools for race relations.

Interesting
I do not believe Mr. Olson can substantiate all the ancient dates he uses in the book. Nevertheless, the book is interesting. ... Read more