The Journey of Man Essay Example for Free

The trip of military personnel EssayIt has long been debated both in religion and in science close to the origin of slice. unrivaledness cites that man was created out from the flesh of some higher Being while the other has many theories regarding such(prenominal) issues. But whatever the most possible theory might be, there is no denying that every set time, scientists flip established a profound link between the genetic composition of man and how he has evolved over time. In his latest book, Spencer Wells tries to stick to our evolution up to our very first ancestor. This book seek to answer some long-standing anthropological questions regarding the origin of humans and we were adequate to(p) to migrate. To answer and trace this, he relied heavily on science, specifically the modern techniques and organisements in DNA research for support. He basically reiterated that the Y chromosome (that of the male) is the uninfluenced marker of the human heritage (Wells, 2004 ).From that basis, he worked backward through time and concluded that the earliest man squeeze out be found in Africa who lived between 31,000 to 79,000 years ago which he past called the Eurasian Adam. As time goes by, a subsequent population would grow and become isolated from its fellows who then(prenominal) gain stark naked genetic markers that subsequently created a rising (genetic) map in time and space. He also said that the first modern humans left Africa only 2,000 generations ago (Wells, 2004) who speedily get over out to Asia, Europe and America.Utilizing the aforementioned(prenominal) indicators, he was quick to debunk the nonion that the Neanderthals are our ancestors. Moreover, in this book, he was equal to(p) to find unusual links between faraway peoples (which were not specifically named in the book) and was adequate to(p) to give evidences that all Native Americans can be marked out from a group of at least a dozen people. Throughout the book, he was able to elaborate his terminologies and methods which made the human direct seem easy. The book thus has compelling arguments with regard to the origin of man. Wells explicitly argued (and as can be seen from the title itself) that the origin of the human race is that of man exclusively he did not trace any blood samples of that of a woman. In lieu with this, a question may arise as to where was the origin of women per se come from. In regard to this argument, Wells did not give any inviolable evidences. Although his primary goal was to find the original male, the real revolution that he was able to illustrate is racial in nature. Racial in a sense that he was able to find links (no egress how odd it may seem) regarding the origins of certain populations today. But, as he elaborates further in the book, he stresses that what makes us tell apart form each other are purely cultural and not solely based on our biology. Moreover, the author utilized a new kind of archeology in his resea rch. And this archeology does not excavate into remnants or fossils but into human cells and genes. Accompanied by his ultra techniques, the author was able to give revolutionary details and insights as to where we came from and how we were able to migrate, our origin and more importantly, our races. With the numerous advancements that science and technology were able to develop, it is preferably commendable in the authors part to attack his research in a overbold and more scientific approach.He is praiseworthy because he was able to apply his expertise and at the same time, use new methods that proved to be very successful and reliable. Instead of going through the naturalized way of finding the origin of man, he was quick to turn to genetics to answer his queries. And thus, he was able to come up with new theories and some new arguments. It also helps that his arguments is backed up by his information by his own researches. Through this, he was able to refute ideas of some a nthropologists who claimed that varying human races were raceway that had its origin from different regions at different times. This further hardened by diagrams and maps that the author provided. Maybe one of the more underrated topics included in the book was how our languages was spread. The author also gives us an idea how language was able to spread and evolve. Much like migration and mutation, language evolved from the addition of new genes throughout time. Analogous to the trail of how the Y chromosome has lead its way out of Africa, Wells says that language encountered that same route but as we develop a new culture, our respective languages are dying at a very fast rate.This office that the original language that we new are added with new meanings and it is slowly using its original sense but this kind of evolution is not something to fret about for it only signifies that change (good change for that matter) is constant. As new gene eviscerate-ups are added to every race and culture, so as the evolution of language is inevitable. Therefore, culture then is still a major factor to the growth of the race. There are many new and agreeable take that one can find in this book. The author clearly gives us a new perspective and arguments regarding our origin. But, unlike many other theories where more questions arise, this book tries to answer its own (and other queries as well) questions. The author had the Y chromosome as his basis for tracking down our ancestors and he employed the latest in genetic mapping which proved to be very successful and reliable. It is also of good importance to mark that not only does the author focused on the Y chromosome per se but also on how it migrated and its direction which implies the migration pattern of the first humans and their journey to the outside world.Moreover, the author also added how language came about its development and evolution throughout time. Lastly, as from the book itself, races were formed from the influx/addition of new line of genes and the environment as they travel through different lands. As humans move from one place to another, they met other people that mostly added to their culture. And perhaps the most startling statement from the author is his argument that races does not exclusively came form genes but importantly, environment and culture were additional factors that contributed to the growth and development of races that we know today.ReferencesWells, S. (2004). The Journey of Man A Genetic Odyssey Random House Trade Paperbacks.