A Þgenetic and cultural odyssey : the life and work of L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza

In recent years it has becomm possible to use DNA to trace human development. For instance the people of iceland believed themselves to be of Viking descent. DNA testing has shown that yes, the men of Iceland are of Viking descent. But the women came from England and Scotland. Apparently the Vikings stopped off to capture a few women on their way west. This little tidbit of knowledge is a mixture of multiple sciences and fields of study. The beliefs of the Icelanders has to come from a humanities perspective. The DNA evidence has to come from the hard science in the laboratory. (The supposition at the end is my own.) Dr. Cavalli-Sforza, as the title of this book says, has spent a lifetime of study spanning across many fields of study in the hard sciences and in many different areas of the humanities. This is a book that spans the globe from his offices in California and Italy to field studies in Africa and elsewhere. Written by an anthropologist and a geneticist, this book is also a good combination of crossing the fields of science and humanity. L. Luca Cavalli-sforza Has Changed The Way We Understand Human Genetics And Culture. Drawing Links Between Genetic And Cultural Development, Cavalli-storza Has Made Groundbreaking Discoveries In The Evolution Of Homo Sapiens, Prehistoric Migration, And The Origins Of Human Differentiation. Based On Interviews With His Colleagues And Analyses Of His Work, Stone And Lurquin's Biography, The First On The Scientist, Offers A Portrait Of Cavalli-sforza's Life And Ideas.--jacket. Science And Society, Genes And Culture -- From Medicine To Bacterial Genetics (1943-1960) -- The Shift To Human Populations (1952-1970) -- Excursions Into Human Culture (1970- ) -- Genes, Languages, And Human Prehistory (1970- ) -- On To Dna Polymorphisms And The Y Chromosome (1984- ) -- The Human Genome Diversity Project (1991- ) -- The Legacy. Linda Stone And Paul F. Lurquin. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [207]-216) And Index. Drawing links between genetic and cultural development, Cavalli-Sforza developed groundbreaking techniques to trace the evolution of Homo sapiens and the origins of human differentiation, in addition to his earlier work in bacterial genetics. He is also the founder of the Human Genome Diversity Project and continues to work as the principal investigator at Stanford University's Human Population Genetics Laboratory. Based on extensive research and interviews with Cavalli-Sforza and his colleagues, this biography examines the scientist's life and his immense and occasionally controversial contributions to genetics, anthropology, and linguistics.