Meeting the Family: One Man's Journey Through His Human AncestryDonovan Webster brings his vivid journalistic gifts to a new subject, tracing our deep genealogy using cutting-edge DNA research to map our eons-old journey from prehistoric Africa into the modern world. With the same genetic haplotype as many white American males, Webster makes an ideal subject he is a genuine Everyman. While his voice and spirit are unique to him, in exploring his own ancestry, he shows us our own. Drawing on National Geographic s Genographic Project, the largest anthropologic DNA study of its kind, Webster traces centuries of migrations, everywhere finding members of his now far-flung genetic family. In Tanzania s Rift Valley, he hunts with Julius, whose tribe speaks a click language, and wanders the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia with Mohamed and Khalid, now Jordanian citizens. In Samarkand, Uzbekistan, eastern frontier of his ancestral roaming, a circus ringmaster becomes both friend and link to his primal bloodline. Webster s genographic quest leads him to contemplate what traits he shares with those he meets, and considers what they and their ways of life reveal about the deep history of our species. A lifetime of journalistic travels among a wide range of cultures furnish Webster with a wealth of colorful threads to weave into a story as particularly personal as it is universally human." |
Other editions - View all
Meeting the Family: One Man's Journey Through His Human Ancestry Donovan Webster Limited preview - 2010 |
Meeting the Family: One Man's Journey Through His Human Ancestry Donovan Webster No preview available - 2010 |
Meeting the Family: One Man's Journey Through His Human Ancestry Donovan Webster No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
Africa ancestors ancient animals archaeological arrived Baalbek baobab Basque began Beirut Bekaa Valley beneath Bilbao blue buildings Çatal Hüyük chromosome coffee cultures Dilshod says early Earth Europe eventually farming feet genetic Genographic Project Golbor groups growing Hadzabe hand Hawass Homo erectus Homo sapiens huge hunter-gatherers hunting and gathering inside Julius says Julius's keep Khalid land leaves Lebanese Lebanese Arabs Lebanon live look Madrassa markers Maya Middle East minutes modern humans Mohamed says moving National Geographic Neanderthals Neolithic once plant population Registan rise road Roman roughly Samarkand Silk Road smiles social society sometimes Spain species stand stone Tajiks Tanzania Tashkent technology traps temple there's things Timur tion town tree Ulugh Beg Uzbekistan walk walls Wiessner