Svante Pääbo is the founder of the field of ancient DNA. The director of the department of genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Pääbo has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, National Geographic, and The Economist, as well as on NPR, PBS, and BBC. In 2009 Time named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Pääbo lives in Leipzig, Germany.
Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes
by Svante Paabo
Paperback
(Reprint)
$16.99
- ISBN-13: 9780465054954
- Publisher: Basic Books
- Publication date: 03/24/2015
- Edition description: Reprint
- Pages: 288
- Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 2.80(d)
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"[T]his book is a vibrant testimonial to what might be the greatest creation of modern humans: the scientific method." —Salon
Neanderthal Man tells the story of geneticist Svante Pääbo's mission to answer this question: what can we learn from the genomes of our closest evolutionary relatives? Beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, Neanderthal Man describes the events, intrigues, failures, and triumphs of these scientifically rich years through the lens of the pioneer and inventor of the field of ancient DNA. We learn that Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our hominid relatives and may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct. Pääbo's findings have not only redrawn our family tree, but recast the fundamentals of human history—the biological beginnings of fully modern Homo sapiens, the direct ancestors of all people alive today.
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From the Publisher
"Pääbo provides a riveting, personal account of the development of paleogenetics and the technical revolution that made the field possible."—Science"Neanderthal Man is a revealing history of a new scientific field."—Carl Zimmer, New York Times Book Review
"If there is one name associated with ancient DNA, it is Svante Pääbo.... Neanderthal Man is perfectly timed,
beautifully written and required reading."—Nature
"Pääbo has provided us with a fabulous account of three decade of research into ancient DNA, culminating in 2010 with the publication of the Neanderthal genome."—New York Review of Books
"Highly recommended." —Choice
"The world's foremost expert on recovering ancient DNA tells the inside story of what it took to reconstruct the
Neanderthal genome."—The Christian Century, Essential Books on Evolution and Human Origins
"This is a fascinating story of how modern science and especially computer technology is opening vistas onto our prehistoric history." —The Explorers Journal
"Pääbo provides a fascinating look at how his personal life intersected with the founding of a scientific field that has revolutionized evolution." —Science News
"Pääbo paints a picture of how a major scientific advance rose out of a mix of politics, persuasion,
careful management, and struggles with technology and technique. For that alone, it's valuable."—Ars Technica
"Scientific understanding of earlier humans is fast evolving. For the nonce, this is a go-to volume on the subject for serious readers." —Library Journal
Publishers Weekly
★ 11/11/2013In 2010, Pääbo, the head of a team of more than 50 collaborators, published a landmark scientific paper that changed the way we think about human evolution. For the first time, the genome of an extinct form of human, a Neanderthal, was sequenced and offered to the world. Pääbo passionately chronicles his personal story, from graduate school through the culmination of the Neanderthal project 30 years later, and the scientific implications of this exciting research. Readers will despair with him over technical setbacks, agonize over possible methodological complications, and celebrate his final success. In accessible prose, Pääbo presents the science so that laypersons will understand the nature and import of his work. But it’s his discussion of the scientific process that steals the show. As he explains, “Science is far from the objective and impartial search for incontrovertible truths that nonscientists might imagine.” He discusses what it took to build a case tight enough to convince even the most skeptical of colleagues and he goes on to demonstrate that scientific knowledge is cumulative and ever-evolving, explaining why he freely released the entire genome: “I wanted everyone to be able to check every detail of what we had done. And I wanted them to do a better job if they could.” (Feb.)