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The Great Human Diasporas: The History Of Diversity and Evolution
Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza draws upon his lifelong work in archaeology, anthropology, genetics, molecular biology, and linguistics, to address the basic questions of human origins and diversity. Coauthored by his son, Francesco, the book answers age-old questions such as: Was there a mitochondrial Eve? Did the first humans originate in Africa or in several spots on the planet at about the same time? How did humans get onto North America, the tip of South America, and Australia?
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza
23 books69 followersLuigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza was an Italian population geneticist born in Genoa who has been a professor at Stanford University since 1970.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 13, 2018
This is a shorter version of their previous book "The History and Geography of Human Genes". Here is my review of that.
Absolutely stunning. The result of over 30 years' work by hundreds of scientists. A must for any historian, anthropologist, linguist or paleontologist. Should be of great interest to any scientist.
The authors have applied sophisticated statistical analysis to the evidence from samples of blood taken from thousands of people around the world. It is amazing how much information is teased out. Huge amounts of computing time were required.
They look at dozens of alleles (minor mutations) which can be traced in populations over space and time. The primary mathematical method is identification of principal components by multivariate analysis. Most interesting is the resulting geographical mappings of gene flow. There are very many of great interest. For example, they show the three major migrations into North America from Beringia. They confirm that the dispersion of farming out of Anatolia 8,000 years ago was from migrations of farmers rather than merely the spread of a farming culture.
The authors freely draw from the fields of anthropoly, paleontology and linguistics (and occasionally written history) to supplement and complement the genetic data.
(The work shows clearly that race is not of genetic significance, never mind what you may possibly read elsewhere due to misunderstanding.)
Absolutely stunning. The result of over 30 years' work by hundreds of scientists. A must for any historian, anthropologist, linguist or paleontologist. Should be of great interest to any scientist.
The authors have applied sophisticated statistical analysis to the evidence from samples of blood taken from thousands of people around the world. It is amazing how much information is teased out. Huge amounts of computing time were required.
They look at dozens of alleles (minor mutations) which can be traced in populations over space and time. The primary mathematical method is identification of principal components by multivariate analysis. Most interesting is the resulting geographical mappings of gene flow. There are very many of great interest. For example, they show the three major migrations into North America from Beringia. They confirm that the dispersion of farming out of Anatolia 8,000 years ago was from migrations of farmers rather than merely the spread of a farming culture.
The authors freely draw from the fields of anthropoly, paleontology and linguistics (and occasionally written history) to supplement and complement the genetic data.
(The work shows clearly that race is not of genetic significance, never mind what you may possibly read elsewhere due to misunderstanding.)
July 3, 2019
Anyone unfamiliar with --but hoping to learn about-- the basic principles and facts surrounding human evolution, demography, or population genetics may enjoy this work.
Cavalli-Sforza remains a seminal scientist whose work in population genetics and linguistics was quite revolutionary; I am currently reading his much more complicated and detailed work "The History and Geography of Human Genes."
The text is more or less a simplified and popularized version of his magnum opus. Mr. Cavalli-Sforza's son, a film director, helped him in editing the work, so the writing style is highly readable and entertaining (much more so than "The History and...")
The work is also appropriate for the initiate as it does not touch on any of the more controversial aspects of demography or population genetics, notably differential psychology as it relates to population differences in BIP (behavior, intelligence, and personality).
Surely worth 5 stars. However, I was quite dismayed to read yet another half-baked criticism of intelligence research in the postscript, which involves numerous straw-men and misinterpretations. I would refer readers to my shelf on this topic for better resources.
Cavalli-Sforza remains a seminal scientist whose work in population genetics and linguistics was quite revolutionary; I am currently reading his much more complicated and detailed work "The History and Geography of Human Genes."
The text is more or less a simplified and popularized version of his magnum opus. Mr. Cavalli-Sforza's son, a film director, helped him in editing the work, so the writing style is highly readable and entertaining (much more so than "The History and...")
The work is also appropriate for the initiate as it does not touch on any of the more controversial aspects of demography or population genetics, notably differential psychology as it relates to population differences in BIP (behavior, intelligence, and personality).
Surely worth 5 stars. However, I was quite dismayed to read yet another half-baked criticism of intelligence research in the postscript, which involves numerous straw-men and misinterpretations. I would refer readers to my shelf on this topic for better resources.
January 20, 2016
If you want to understand how you came to be where you are and why your body behaves the way it does, this is an absolute must-read. This scholarly book is written by a pair of scientists who are leaders in the field; groundbreaking leaders at that. And they make this topic very readable. Fascinating!
September 28, 2024
Really great book that I think anyone interested in the topic of human evolution could read regardless of prior education. The tone is casual enough to make the reading itself light but also informative enough that you can walk away feeling like you have learned something interesting. Two brief complaints are that it is dated (not very fair to judge the book based on that, I knew that when I picked it up, but still kind of jarring to hear a population geneticist talk about the "out-of-Africa" theory with reservations), and the discussion of the evolution of language kind of bored me. One slightly bigger complaint is that the timeline of human migration out of Africa still seems unclear to me. Overall, though, this book is the work of obvious humanity and genius, made accessible by a clever collaboration between father and son. It really starts from the fundamentals, talking about the structure of DNA, what mutations are, where they come from, etc. Probably the most interesting things are the four basic factors determining genetics of populations, and the work of the author in explaining the spread of agriculture after it was invented. The four basic factors are mutation (necessary; without it there would be no genetic diversity), selection, drift (aka chance; mutations that are selectively neutral can still come to predominate, especially if environmental changes render them irrelevant), and migration. This final factor can be used to great historical effect as evidenced by the work of Luigi Cavalli-Sforza in explaining the spread of agriculture. In his work he was able to demonstrate that there are traces of genes coming from the populations of the Levant/Near East (where agriculture was first developed in Western Eurasia) present throughout the European continent, with the highest concentration being closer to the origin itself. This shows that the people who invented agriculture likely experienced high population growth, which led to them migrating in order to get land that wouldn't be subject to diminishing returns from additional labor input. As they moved away from the Levant they brought their practices, and their genes with them. Ancient history can be, in part, elucidated by the genetic data of present populations. Apparently David Reich's book on this topic demonstrates this wonderfully, and I am excited to read the copy I own whenever I get around to it. A nice, updated account of this same topic is sure to be fascinating.
November 8, 2020
A wonderful mix of humanities, science, philosophy, archaeology, anthropology, biology, and genetics - but I am positively biased ;)
It is interesting to read a book situated within the context of its time. Biology and genetics is a rapidly evolving discipline, and it is now 15 years since this publication. There has been much leaps and bounds in the science that some of the data and interpretations are no longer deemed correct or have been updated. So it was sometimes challenging to disentangle the concepts and results that will not hold up to the standards of 2020.
Nevertheless, it was fascinating to hear the excitement of then cutting edge technologies and 'new' projects (e.g. the Human Genome Project was in its early stages). Also insightful was how some ideas raised in the 1990s are still relevant to today, like the warnings of human impact on the environment and calls for sustainability.
PS - the postscript rebuttal chapter on the relationship between IQ and genetics was intense - even when I skimmed through it!
It is interesting to read a book situated within the context of its time. Biology and genetics is a rapidly evolving discipline, and it is now 15 years since this publication. There has been much leaps and bounds in the science that some of the data and interpretations are no longer deemed correct or have been updated. So it was sometimes challenging to disentangle the concepts and results that will not hold up to the standards of 2020.
Nevertheless, it was fascinating to hear the excitement of then cutting edge technologies and 'new' projects (e.g. the Human Genome Project was in its early stages). Also insightful was how some ideas raised in the 1990s are still relevant to today, like the warnings of human impact on the environment and calls for sustainability.
PS - the postscript rebuttal chapter on the relationship between IQ and genetics was intense - even when I skimmed through it!
March 1, 2021
This book was co-authored by the Luigi's son, who admitted himself to be a film director rather than a man of science. Thus, it is understandable that the book was written in an almost popular documentary style, but this ran a risk of it to turn out hopelessly superficial.
As my knowledge in anthropology and linguistics evolution is hopelessly shallow, I wouldn't know whether his stances in this book are mainstream or not. But, some of his ideas are actually counter-intuitive. While even the propagation of the Earth around the Sun ran against our daily experience of its revolution, I can't help but to be uncomfortable with some of his ideas. To pick one, he believed that after the population explosion post-Agricultural Revolution, people actually migrated outwards from the epicentres, rather than merely exchanging ideas with their neighbours.
Other than that, while some books made us wondering for more, this book made me asking for more because the overview it supplied seemed to me, to be insufficient. I'll try to read his other books after this.
As my knowledge in anthropology and linguistics evolution is hopelessly shallow, I wouldn't know whether his stances in this book are mainstream or not. But, some of his ideas are actually counter-intuitive. While even the propagation of the Earth around the Sun ran against our daily experience of its revolution, I can't help but to be uncomfortable with some of his ideas. To pick one, he believed that after the population explosion post-Agricultural Revolution, people actually migrated outwards from the epicentres, rather than merely exchanging ideas with their neighbours.
Other than that, while some books made us wondering for more, this book made me asking for more because the overview it supplied seemed to me, to be insufficient. I'll try to read his other books after this.
October 13, 2025
Hvor oppstod det første mennesket? Hvordan endte vi opp i alle verdens hjørner? Disse spørsmålene blir besvart veldig godt i en bok som f.eks. Sapiens av Harari, men denne boka går mye mer i dybden på evolusjon og genetikk. Molekyl-nivå i DNA typ dybde.
Forklarer hvordan nye genetiske koder oppstår og hvorfor enkelte av disse består, mens andre forsvinner. Det blir på mange måter forklaringen på hvordan mennesker har endt opp som de har, rent genetisk.
Likevel er den lettlest. Skrevet av mennesker som åpenbart har sansen for formidling og avsky for dogmer.
Hvis man interesserer seg for menneskets opprinnelse finnes det bare én grunn til å ikke lese denne: at den er skrevet for omtrent 30 år siden og sikkert inneholder utdatert/manglende informasjon ved enkelte detaljer.
Forklarer hvordan nye genetiske koder oppstår og hvorfor enkelte av disse består, mens andre forsvinner. Det blir på mange måter forklaringen på hvordan mennesker har endt opp som de har, rent genetisk.
Likevel er den lettlest. Skrevet av mennesker som åpenbart har sansen for formidling og avsky for dogmer.
Hvis man interesserer seg for menneskets opprinnelse finnes det bare én grunn til å ikke lese denne: at den er skrevet for omtrent 30 år siden og sikkert inneholder utdatert/manglende informasjon ved enkelte detaljer.
May 22, 2023
This book was excellent. While I know almost nothing about genetics, the book was very readable. The author goes to great lengths to back up all of his conclusions and is more than open about the inherent difficulties with coming to conclusions that are not able to be proven empirically. I confess that some of the math was too much for me, but the book made for compelling reading. In this age of discord, the sections regarding race and IQ were especially enlightening.
May 3, 2023
This is a fascinating look at the spread and migration of humans using genetics, technology, agriculture, and language. They also tackle the intertwined nature of cultural and genetic heritability. I presume that nearly all information gained since this was published would only further refine and corroborate their conclusions. A very worthwhile read that is not overly technical.
June 17, 2023
A good book on the science. Educational postscript.
March 5, 2016
كتاب مميز في الانثروبولوجيا
لوكا كافالي فتح عصر جديد من خلال دراسة تاريخ الانسان عن طريق الجينات
هذا العلم ما زال في بداياته إلا أنه اقرب للحقيقة من الاعتماد على المستحاثات فقط
قرأت الكتاب لبحثي في موضوع هجرات البشر قبل التاريخ
وحصلت بصعوبة على النسخة المترجمة من دار الوراق
لاحظت اختلاف في التواريخ بين الخريطة المنشورة في الكتاب مع خريطة احدث
كانت بالتعاون مع كافالي نفسه يمكن الوصول لها بالبحث عن
Journey of man
وهناك وثائقي موجود على اليوتيوب بهذا العنوان
هنا تصدق العبارة الامريكية
we are all immigrants
لوكا كافالي فتح عصر جديد من خلال دراسة تاريخ الانسان عن طريق الجينات
هذا العلم ما زال في بداياته إلا أنه اقرب للحقيقة من الاعتماد على المستحاثات فقط
قرأت الكتاب لبحثي في موضوع هجرات البشر قبل التاريخ
وحصلت بصعوبة على النسخة المترجمة من دار الوراق
لاحظت اختلاف في التواريخ بين الخريطة المنشورة في الكتاب مع خريطة احدث
كانت بالتعاون مع كافالي نفسه يمكن الوصول لها بالبحث عن
Journey of man
وهناك وثائقي موجود على اليوتيوب بهذا العنوان
هنا تصدق العبارة الامريكية
we are all immigrants
March 24, 2008
Wow! I liked this book. It traces human movement through modern genetics, and gives a great deal of the history of peoples along side. I found this fascinating. The one problem I had was it went into great depth on the genetic side of things, which I admit to skimming over parts of.
November 26, 2009
We started as one people; will we became one again? Cavalli-Sforza seems to think there is no objective reason not to. Empirical observations of the diversity of mentalities seem to point to a different conclusion. Time will tell.
November 13, 2007
I found this book unreadable and did not finish it. The topic is fascniating, but the prose is stilted.
July 19, 2008
If I had to pick one book by this guy, this is the one. He has written much more, but this sums it up the best.
Want to read
October 23, 2008listed in guns germs and stell
January 3, 2009
I need to read this again...
decided-not-to-read
October 16, 2009It may just be that I've taken various science classes within the last couple years, or that this book is over ten years old, but I didn't really feel like this book was covering any new ground.
September 27, 2011
Very interesting and informative. Very good at popularizing the biology and mathematics underlying theories of migration of ancient peoples.
December 30, 2016
Lots of in depth explanation for beginners. Published 11 years ago, kinda wish I had read this after reading Stephen J. Gould's and before Dawkins' books.. This is like a link in between
February 24, 2014
Lots of data analysis & science, the broad scope & sweep carried me along. Learned a lot.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews