Physical Books - Page 3

Abraham's Children: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People

Jon Entine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Could our sense of who we are really turn on a sliver of DNA? In our multiethnic world, questions of individual identity are becoming increasingly unclear. Now in ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN bestselling author Jon Entine vividly brings to life the profound human implications of the Age of Genetics while illuminating one of today's most controversial topics: the connection between genetics and who we are, and specifically the question "Who is a Jew?"

Entine weaves a fascinating narrative, using breakthroughs in genetic genealogy to reconstruct the Jewish biblical tradition of the chosen people and the hereditary Israelite priestly caste of Cohanim. Synagogues in the mountains of India and China and Catholic churches with a Jewish identity in New Mexico and Colorado provide different patterns of connection within the tangled history of the Jewish diaspora. Legendary accounts of the Hebrew lineage of Ethiopian tribesmen, the building of Africa's Great Zimbabwe fortress, and even the so-called Lost Tribes are reexamined in light of advanced DNA technology. Entine also reveals the shared ancestry of Israelites and Christians.

As people from across the world discover their Israelite roots, their riveting stories unveil exciting new approaches to defining one's identity. Not least, Entine addresses possible connections between DNA and Jewish intelligence and the controversial notion that Jews are a "race apart." ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN is a compelling reinterpretation of biblical history and a challenging and exciting illustration of the promise and power of genetic research.

The Hidden History of the Human Race : Major Scientific Coverup Exposed

Richard L.; Cremo, Michael A. Thompson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Thorough, provoking, challenging but needs more proof to be a real contender 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The book has a style, which seems to be too academic. In addition, the book presents information that for the academia may seem very uneasy because it shakes the evolution theory but at the same time makes the creationist tremble.

Another aspect, which is quite negative, is the lack of proof or documentation. However, the explanation of every piece of the puzzle that the authors give us is very interesting and very logical.

This book makes the reader ponder whether there is another explanation for our existence. To bring forth objects that an intelligent being 2.8 billion years ago manufactured or another with an estimated manufactured age of 600 million years is enough to make you think who made this objects.

The Laetoli foot prints arguments presented by the writers and the explosive comment made by Leakey about the book are quite impressive and make you think that the establishment is probably hiding something.

The implication of the information that is in this book is enough to reconsider all the available data. However, if the book is right many names and reputations will be trashed, and many religious theories or beliefs will be disproved leaving in the dust many names and many organization. Therefore, I can understand the hatred and the negativity of many professionals towards the book and its authors. That is why the establishments always require credentials. Making us believe that without credentials, no one can come up with an explanation about anything. Credentials, academic positions, and grants are the tight rope that obliges professionals to become prostitutes of the system and be reverent and politically correct toward the establishment.

The information contained in this book is very interesting but be careful with what you believe and to whom you believe. Nothing is sacred except the truth! What is the truth?

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes

Frans de Waal

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Constitutions

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

DISTURBING BUT USEFUL 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes was a very disturbing book to read. Perhaps this is because of the way Franz de Waal chose to end the book. The story about how Luit finished his reign as "alpha male" was extremely upsetting.

One of the key themes in the book is that so called political behavior is rooted at a level of development that is below cognitive and is as much instinctive as it is learned. Learning about the male chimpanzee's quest for dominance, it makes one wonder how much our behavior is motivated by inherent drives that are not only irrelevant in modern cultures, but are unknowable by those who experience the motivation.

This book has changed the way I look at and understand the word around me.

I strongly recommend this book, but it is not for the faint-hearted.

Editorial Review:

The first edition of Frans de Waal's Chimpanzee Politics was acclaimed not only by primatologists for its scientific achievement but also by politicians, business leaders, and social psychologists for its remarkable insights into the most basic human needs and behaviors. Twenty-five years later, this book is considered a classic. Featuring a new preface that includes recent insights from the author, this anniversary edition is a detailed and thoroughly engrossing account of rivalries and coalitions -- actions governed by intelligence rather than instinct. As we watch the chimpanzees of Arnhem behave in ways we recognize from Machiavelli (and from the nightly news), de Waal reminds us again that the roots of politics are older than humanity.

The Immense Journey (Time Reading Program Special Edition)

Loren C. Eiseley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

one of the little known great writers. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

the title, i suppose, could lead one to think that this book might be too heavily on the new-agey side of things for one's taste. not so! mr eiseley is one of the most profound thinkers i have come across over the years, and his writing is spectacular. i have seldom come across a non-fiction writer with such a marvellous prose style (lytton strachey comes to mind as an equivilant). this great book had me looking at life past and present in ways and from angles i had never considered. the authors wonder at existence in all its mystery, joy, and sorrow, made for some of the most moving reading i have ever encountered. this, and other works by mr eiseley, i will be reading and rereading throughout my lifetime.

Pondering Nature 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Most of us do not spend our days thinking about the magic of nature. In fact, it is rare that we stop and wonder at the unique qualities of life and evolution. This book is a collection of short essays which seem to take a walk through nature, pondering its interesting and beautiful idiosyncrasies. Without going into too much detail, Eiseley helps us to stop and look at the seemingly small things and understand their vast importance. This is not a complicated book designed for naturalists, but a fairly straightforward and engaging book for those who simply enjoy nature. A high school student interested in studying anthropology or environmental science in college would be wise to read this as inspiration.

Editorial Review:

Anthropologist and naturalist Loren Eiseley blends scientific knowledge and imaginative vision in this story of man.

Bigfoot! : The True Story of Apes in America

Loren Coleman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For years, scientists and researchers have studied, speculated about, and searched for an enigmatic creature that is legendary in the annals of American folklore. Now, learn the truth about...

BIGFOOT!

In this fascinating and comprehensive look at the fact, fiction, and fable of the North American "Sasquatch," award-winning author Loren Coleman takes readers on a journey into America's biggest mystery -- could an unrecognized "ape" be living in our midst? Drawing on over forty years of investigations, interviews, and fieldwork on these incredible beasts, Coleman explores the modern debates about these powerful, ape-like creatures, why they have remained a mystery for so long, and what we can learn about ourselves from these animals, our nearest cousins!

From reports of Bigfoot's existence found in ancient Native American traditions, to the controversial Patterson-Gimlin film of a Bigfoot in the wild, to today's Internet sites that record the sightings almost as soon as they occur, Coleman uncovers the past, explains the present, and considers the future of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in the natural world.

Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men

Bryan Sykes

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Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Disappointing 2 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

OK, I loved Sykes' book "The Seven Daughters of Eve." So I wanted to read this one as well. Very disappointing. For one thing, I couldn't care less about the mating and reproductive habits of insects. For another, while I understand his wish to clarify things scientifically, I thought some of his opinions about women and homosexuality were pretty outlandish. There were a few interesting things in the book. The parts about Ghengis Khan would be one example.

But my biggest issue with the book is that Sykes seems to have gotten way too full of himself and way too focused on "being a writer." Please! Do I really care what the weather was like or what the library looked like when he got idea XYZ? What made the other book so engaging was that he was just telling about the excitement of the discovery process and some of the possibilities for these women who many of us are descended from.

Editorial Review:

Timely and fascinating, this work covers a wealth of controversial topics, including whether there is a genetic cause for male greed, aggression, and promiscuity; the possible existence of a male homosexual gene; and what, if anything, can be done to save men from a slow, but certain, extinction.

The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture

Frank R. Wilson

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"A startling argument . . . provocative . . . absorbing." --The Boston Globe

"Ambitious . . . arresting . . . celebrates the importance of hands to our lives today as well as to the history of our species."
--The New York Times Book Review

The human hand is a miracle of biomechanics, one of the most remarkable adaptations in the history of evolution. The hands of a concert pianist can elicit glorious sound and stir emotion; those of a surgeon can perform the most delicate operations; those of a rock climber allow him to scale a vertical mountain wall. Neurologist Frank R. Wilson makes the striking claim that it is because of the unique structure of the hand and its evolution in cooperation with the brain that Homo sapiens became the most intelligent, preeminent animal on the earth.
        In this fascinating book, Wilson moves from a discussion of the hand's evolution--and how its intimate communication with the brain affects such areas as neurology, psychology, and  linguistics--to provocative new ideas about human creativity and how best to nurture it. Like Oliver Sacks and Stephen Jay Gould, Wilson handles a daunting range of scientific knowledge with a surprising deftness and a profound curiosity about human possibility. Provocative, illuminating, and delightful to read, The Hand encourages us to think in new ways about one of our most taken-for-granted assets.

"A mark of the book's excellence [is that] it makes the reader aware of the wonder in trivial, everyday acts, and reveals the complexity behind the simplest manipulation." --The Washington Post

Race, Evolution, and Behavior : A Life History Perspective (2nd Special Abridged Edition)

J. Philippe Rushton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 100 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Oh, I finally get it now...Rushton isn't being serious and is just joking 1 out of 5 stars.
10 of 25 people found this review helpful.

Here are the main premises of the book...

Page 19 then shows a chart he made comparing traits like aggressiveness, consciousness, sexual intercourse frequencies, mental stability, etc. His source? Himself; how objective. Many aspects of that self-styled chart were subjective.

Page 24 is hilarious, as he begins to talk about he r-K scale. For Rushton's own r/K theory to be tenable, you'd have to be a polygenist, since the traditional r/K theory explained the difference one sees in cockroaches, on one hand, and human beings, on the other. The notion that humans differ in r/K selection strategies based on "racial groupings" is completely foreign in biology or genetics. Regarding Rushton's r/k theories, Dr. Mark Feldman (an actual biologist from Stanford University), stated they were "absolutely inapplicable" to human differences, and that it "doesn't really classify as science, as it has no content, it is laughable". So yes; let's just accept the brilliant theory that Blacks are dumber since they have bigger d*cks, shall we? It makes so much sense, especially when he's a leading anthropologist, biologist and geneticist. Oh wait...he's not. Nevermind.

Rushton certainly did make genital size a central point in making a correlation between intelligence, as anyone familiar with his work knows that he was quite obsessed with Black sexual behavior. Since he was, as I stated, not a biologist, anthropologist or geneticist, how can he claim to make any "scientific conclusions"? Answer = he can't. If you wish to think there is a connection, by all means, lol, go ahead. If you read the Flynn articles like Race, IQ and Jensen, and Measurement, Realism and Objectivity, as well as sources even the Murray and Herrnstein direct us too, you'll notice the relevance of the Flynn Effect. Read page 308 of the Bell Curve. This explains why IQ average to upward since standardization, and analyzes the fact the a generation and a half ago, there was as much difference in score between whites as there exists now between Blacks and whites. Studies also showed that, back in the 1920s, northern, more industrial Blacks scored higher than southern whites on "intelligence tests". Also, David Moore's adoption study illustrated that children raised in white households end up with the same IQs whether they were Black or white. Then the Eyefurth study done in Germany, which page 310 of the Bell Curve mentions - where mixed-race German children on Black GI fathers. The result: they had the same IQs as the white German kids.

The brain/cranial size refuted-to-death "argument" (if you can even call it that) he spews is also refuted by the SAME GUY HE SUPPOSEDLY GOT HIS "INFORMATION" FROM! His name is Dr. Allen Wilson, at the University of California. Dr. Wilson evaluated Rushton's "work", and claimed that any attempt to utilize his work in search for evidence of racial inferiority "totally misrepresented" his findings that "shocks and amazes" him. Anthropologist Christopher Springer at the British Museum also dismissed Rushton's manufactured correlation. The difference in brain sizes among the different races is 1/5 that of the difference between men and women, yet the IQ cleavage between men and women are roughly 3 points. Neanderthals also had massive skulls. Were they smarter, Phil? Oh, that's right, as you said (in a contradictory manner); "head size is a weak predictor of intelligence" and that "race is only a weak predictor of cranial capacity" (Race in Mind, page 168 and Evidence for Race and Sex Differences in Cranial Capacity)

I read this book in about an hour or two. There are lots more aspects of his book that can be refuted faily easily, but I don't want to make this review too long. I have difficulty taking his "work" seriously. He reminds me so much of the Young Earth Creationist, Kent Hovind - who is an absolute joke in the scientific community. That's essentially what Philly is, a joke.

Editorial Review:

Using evidence from psychology, anthropology, sociology and other scientific disciplines, this book shows that there are at least three biological races (subspecies) of man Orientals (i.e., Mongoloids or Asians), Blacks (i.e., Negroids or Africans), and Whites (i.e., Caucasoids or Europeans). There are recognizable profiles for the three major racial groups on brain size, intelligence, personality and temperament, sexual behavior, and rates of fertility, maturation and longevity. The profiles reveal that, ON AVERAGE, Orientals and their descendants around the world fall at one end of the continuum, Blacks and their descendants around the world fall at the other end of the continuum, Europeans regularly fall in between. This worldwide pattern implies evolutionary and genetic, rather than purely social, political, economic, or cultural causes.

Introduction to Physical Anthropology

Robert Jurmain, Lynn Kilgore, Wenda Trevathan, Russell L. Ciochon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The wonder of human evolution... 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

If this book is required for your anthropology course, then you're in luck! I appreciate that the authors genuinely enjoy the subject matter, and that it comes through in their writing.

The book is very well organized. You can look forward to chapters of reasonable length -- usually 25 to 30 pages, at most. There are lots of colourful pictures and diagrams, though some flowcharts seem like page fillers to me. The margins are used for definitions of new key words and concepts, a very useful feature.

Aside: There's a little bit of "handwaving" in the early chapters introducing concepts of genetics. That's unfortunate, but necessary at the same time. So if you're interested in the details, I encourage you to pick up a genetics textbook (I liked Concepts of Genetics), or better yet, take a genetics course.

There are certainly debates and controversies in the field. This makes sense, since there are so many unknowns. I appreciate that the authors make mention of differing perspectives and points of view when appropriate.

Editorial Review:

Jurmain's best-selling text provides you with the course content you need to help you pass your biological/physical anthropology course. Through clear discussions that move from 'description' to interpretation, compelling visual content, cutting-edge research, and interactive multimedia, you'll discover life's history and the place of human beings in the biological world.

Frozen In Time: The Fate of The Franklin Expedition

Owen Beattie, John Geiger

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Subjects -> History -> Australia & Oceania -> Polar Regions

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Simply compelling."--Mordecai Richler. "A cautionary tale of scholarly merit."--William S. Burroughs. "Chilling...will keep you up nights turning pages."--Peter Gorner, The Chicago Tribune. In 1845, Sir John Franklin set off, determined to "penetrate the icy fastness" of the Arctic. But he and his 129 men never made it. For the next 35 years, more than 20 major rescue parties searched fruitlessly for the vanished expedition. In this updated version of a bestseller that sold over 118,000 copies, a top forensic anthropologist and a historian tell the dramatic tale of excavating three sailors from the Franklin party. The bodies, well preserved by the permafrost, gave up their secrets to 20th century science, and the researchers pieced together a story of horrific starvation, scurvy, and cannibalism...Absolutely unforgettable--with photos in both color and black and white. The authors both live in Alberta, Canada. 192 pages, 43 color illus., 5 x 7 3/4.