Books › A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived
416 pages
A witty, mind-expanding journey through our DNA that proves human history is far messier and more interconnected than we ever imagined.
What it feels like
Reading this feels like sitting at a pub with a brilliant, slightly cheeky geneticist who is eager to dismantle everything you thought you knew about human history. The pace is brisk and engaging, carrying you through dense scientific concepts with a wry, conversational ease that never feels like a textbook. Instead of dry timelines, the narrative offers a deeply humbling and awe-inspiring look at the messy, tangled web of our shared ancestry. It is an intellectually stimulating experience that strips away biological essentialism and replaces it with a profound sense of interconnectedness. Perfect for fans of accessible pop science, this book delights anyone who loves having their assumptions upended by sharp wit and undeniable evidence.
- Mood
- intellectually stimulating
- awe-inspiring
- curious
- grounded
- Tone
- wry
- conversational
- enthusiastic
- myth-busting
- accessible
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- interconnectedness of humanity · messiness of history · dismantling biological essentialism · limits of scientific knowledge
- The writing
- Witty and conversational, relying on vivid metaphors to translate dense genetic science into highly readable, engaging stories.
- The arc
- Begins with a spark of curiosity about our ancient origins and expands into a humbling, awe-struck appreciation for the deeply tangled web of human ancestry.
- Who it's for
- Curious nonfiction readers who enjoy having their assumptions challenged by a brilliant, slightly cheeky expert.
Content notes
- discussions of eugenics
- historical racism
- disease and pandemics
About the book
In our unique genomes, every one of us carries the story of our species--births, deaths, disease, war, famine, migration, and a lot of sex. But those stories have always been locked away--until now. Who are our ancestors? Where did they come from? Geneticists have suddenly become historians, and the hard evidence in our DNA has blown the lid off what we thought we knew. Acclaimed science writer Adam Rutherford explains exactly how genomics is completely rewriting the human story--from 100,000 years ago to the present. A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived will upend your thinking on Neanderthals, evolution, royalty, race, and even redheads. (For example, we now know that at least four human species once roamed the earth.) Plus, here is the remarkable, controversial story of how our genes made their way to the Americas--one that's still being written, as ever more of us have our DNA sequenced. Rutherford closes with "A Short Introduction to the Future of Humankind," filled with provocative questions that we're on the cusp of answering: Are we still in the grasp of natural selection? Are we evolving for better or worse? And... where do we go from here?
Description from Open Library.
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