From the acclaimed science writer and broadcaster, a dazzling tour of the latest genetic discoveries which are blurring the boundaries between science and history
Dr Adam Rutherford is a science writer and broadcaster. He studied genetics at University College London, and during his PhD on the developing eye, he was part of a team that identified the first genetic cause of a form of childhood blindness. He has written and presented many award-winning series and programmes for the BBC, including the flagship weekly Radio 4 programme INSIDE SCIENCE, THE CELL for BBC Four, and PLAYING GOD on the rise of synthetic biology for the leading science strand HORIZON, as well as writing for the science pages of the GUARDIAN. His first book, CREATION, on the origin of life and synthetic biology, was published in 2013 to outstanding reviews and was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Prize. adamrutherford.com | @AdamRutherford
I very much enjoyed and admired . . . A Brief History of Everyone
Who Ever Lived
*OBSERVER Books of the Year 2016*
An effervescent work, brimming with tales and confounding ideas
carried in the "epic poem in our cells". The myriad storylines will
leave you swooning . . . Rutherford, a trained geneticist, is an
enthusiastic guide
*GUARDIAN*
A thoroughly entertaining history of Homo sapiens and its DNA in a
manner that displays popular science writing at its best
*OBSERVER*
A brilliant, authoritative, surprising, captivating introduction to
human genetics. If you know little about the human story, you will
be spellbound. If you know a lot about the human story, you'll be
spellbound. It's that good
*Brian Cox*
Adam Rutherford's book is well-written, stimulating and
entertaining. What's more important, he consistently gets it
right
*Richard Dawkins*
If you are ethnically British, one thing is certain: your ancestors
definitely had sex with Neanderthals. On the other hand, they
probably didn't have sex with Vikings, who, it turns out, did a
fair bit more pillaging than raping. And, depending on the
flakiness of your earwax, it is just conceivable that your
relatives' unattractiveness to hairy and horned invaders was
related to their body odour. DNA is fragile, confusing and contains
a lot of pointless data. But unlike other accounts of human history
it doesn't lie. Adam Rutherford's soaring book is an exposition of
what this new science really tells us about who we are
*THE TIMES*
One of the most extraordinary things about this book is its sheer
breadth. Rutherford, a writer and geneticist, weaves from our genes
a fascinating tapestry of human history from its most primitive
origins to its sophisticated present, and beyond ... The writing is
concise and often funny, and Rutherford never takes himself or his
subject too seriously ... It is one of those rare books that you'll
finish thinking you haven't wasted a single second
*INDEPENDENT*
Magisterial, informative and delightful
*Peter Frankopan*
Rutherford takes off on an extraordinary adventure, following the
wandering trail of DNA across the globe and back in time. And on
the way, he reveals what DNA can - and can't - tell us about
ourselves, our history and our deep evolutionary heritage. From the
Neanderthals to the Vikings, from the Queen of Sheba to Richard
III, Rutherford goes in search of our ancestors, tracing the
genetic clues deep into the past . . . Wide-ranging, witty, full of
surprises and studded with sparkling insights - Rutherford uncovers
the epic history of the human species, written in DNA
*Alice Roberts*
A captivating delight. With witty, authoritative and profound
prose, Adam Rutherford tackles the biggest of issues - where we
came from, and what makes us who we are. He does more than any
author to cut through the confusion around genetics, and to reveal
what modern genetics has to say about our identity, history and
future
*Ed Yong*
Genetics is opening up the past as never before - Adam Rutherford
puts the genes in genealogy brilliantly
*Matt Ridley*
Fifteen years ago, the first sequence and analysis of the human
genome was published. A monumental surge in genetics followed.
Science writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford rides that tide and
traces its effects, first focusing on how genetics has enriched and
in some cases upset our understanding of human evolution, then
examining the revelations of recent findings, such as deep flaws in
the concept of race . . . Rutherford unpeels the science with
elegance
*NATURE*
I learned gobs, pondered more, and re-read much. Excellent
book!
*Commander Chris Hadfield*
Exemplary "popular" science ... absorbing, immensely informative
and beautifully written
*Henry Marsh*
Wonderfully readable . . . Rutherford has an easy way of describing
complex processes, coupled with a love of a telling number or
statistic
*WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE magazine*
Science books can sometimes be rather stuffy or prissy - but no one
can accuse Adam Rutherford of this. In his exploration of "the
stories in our genes" that word stories is foremost - and
Rutherford proves himself time and again to be an accomplished
storyteller . . . a magnificent achievement, a big, friendly bear
of a book that pummels the reader with delightful stories and no
doubt would buy you a drink if it could
*POPSCIENCEBOOKS*
A revelatory and important exploration into the ties that bind us -
all seven billion of us - together. I really was enthralled
*author of THE YEAR OF THE RUNAWAYS*
Rutherford is an engaging and accessible narrator, able to deploy
his expertise as a torch with which to illuminate a complicated
subject. His is also often very funny, alive to the absurd lengths
to which humans are willing to go in order to disbelieve facts . .
. This is, inevitably, a singularly gripping yarn. Rutherford
superbly narrates not merely our species' progress from our
original African heartland, but also the discoveries which have
allowed us to map that journey retrospectively. He has a keen eye
for the arresting factoid that underpins the broader concept . . .
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived is not merely
informative but wise
*NEW HUMANIST*
This scintillating tour of the latest genetic discoveries blurs the
boundaries between science and history, encompassing Neanderthal
discoveries, microbiology, the possible extinction of redheads,
dead royals, race relations, criminology, evolution and eugenics.
Our genomes, says writer and broadcaster Rutherford winningly,
should be read less like instruction manuals, and more like epic
poems
*THE BOOKSELLER*
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