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جمعرات 25 جنوری 2007Thursday, January 25, 2007

Before the Dawn

Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors is a book about human prehistory by New York Times Science section reporter Nicholas Wade.

This book explores human history from the development of speech to agriculture and settlements. Its focus is mainly on genetic information.

I liked the book as it is full of lots of interesting information about human prehistory. As a science reporter, Nick Wade is also good at writing science stories and hence keeps it interesting and accessible for the layman.

If I have any issue with Before the Dawn, it is that it should be thought of more as a series of articles than a book with a continuous flow through the chapters. Also, at a few places, it felt like the author was describing some current research which might or might not pan out in the way it is described. However, that is always a trade-off in such a book, whether to focus on the state of the art (which might be rejected later on) or write only about widely accepted ideas (which reduces the appeal of the book).

Overall, it is a book worth reading if you are interested in discovering about humanity’s origins and development.

Tags: book, human origin, review

Posted by Zack at January 25, 2007 6:22 PM in Books , Science and Technology

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» The Third Chimpanzee from Procrastination
This is a good, though somewhat dated, book about the rise of Homo Sapiens. While eminently readable and full of interesting information, I found the focus on nuclear or environmental holocaust to be a hindrance. [Read More]

Tracked on July 31, 2007 2:44 PM

Comments

Unfortunately, our country is much advanced in copying the senseless fashions is far behind in education.

Posted by: Ajmal (282 comments) at January 26, 2007 12:27 AM

This text seems to cover a period of history partially covered by Diamond’s “Guns, Germans and Steel.” It would be interesting to read about that period from the genetic perspective.

Posted by: Captain_Arrrgh (133 comments) at January 26, 2007 11:07 AM

Captain Arrrgh:

Guns, Germans and Steel

Germans?

Do note that Guns, Germs and Steel is about the grand narrative of history while Before the Dawn has no such thing.

Posted by: Zack (1719 comments) at January 30, 2007 3:27 PM | PGP Sig

Arrrgh! Double Arrrgh!

Yes, I meant to type “Germs.” Although, guns and steel do, historically, fit with Germans…

Posted by: Captain_Arrrgh (133 comments) at January 30, 2007 7:07 PM

Captain Arrrgh: I thought you had been playing too much Hearts of Iron.

Posted by: Zack (1719 comments) at February 13, 2007 3:50 PM | PGP Sig

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