The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution

Resistance to malaria. Blue eyes. Lactose tolerance. What do all of these traits have in common? Every one of them has emerged in the last 10,000 years. Scientists have long believed that the "great leap forward" that occurred some 40,000 to 50,000 years ago marked end of significant biological evolution in humans. In this original account of our evolutionary history, top scholars Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending reject this conventional wisdom and reveal that the human species has undergone a storm of genetic change much more recently. Human evolution in fact accelerated after civilization arose, they contend, and these ongoing changes have played a pivotal role in human history. Ranging across subjects as diverse as human domestication, Neanderthal hybridization, and IQ tests, Cochran and Harpending's analysis demonstrates convincingly that human genetics have changed and can continue to change much more rapidly than scientists have previously believed.--From publisher description.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member annbury

Interesting, but far from convincing. The book puts forth the argument that human beings have continued to evolve since the dispersion out of Africa, and even since the beginning of recorded history. The book contains some genuinely interesting ideas, in particular the possible importance in

history of the emergence of mutations favoring lactose tolerance. But it does not contain much in the way of supporting evidence. There ia a lot of "might be" and "doesn't rule out the possibility that" etc. etc. I look forward to seeing some of these ideas in a more fully developed -- and evidentially support -- form. Without evidential support, these arguments are not just questionable, they are potentially dangerous.

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LibraryThing member vpfluke

In contrast to many biologists, this book sets out to show that human evolution has moved faster since the onslaught of civilization. The difference between races is more than cultural, but to some degree biological. The proof is not entirely there yet, but the indications are. The Western Euopean

advances over the last 500 years show this. A separate chapter is presented on how particularly well Ashkenazi Jews have done with intellectual achievement. Nicholas wade n a more recent book has presented simlar arguments in "A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History."

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LibraryThing member Helcura

This book is 90 percent speculation, but it's interesting speculation and raises questions that should be asked.

Anyone with any common sense and a reasonable understanding of biological evolution realizes that human populations are affected by evolutionary pressures in the short term as well as

the long term, so the book isn't as revolutionary as the authors would like you to think. Still, the sort of small evolutionary changes discussed in this book have only recently begun to be studied and there is much more studying to do.

The examples given by the authors are interesting. The explanations offered by the authors for the cause of the examples betray their limited understanding of areas outside of their specialty - they particularly tend to discount cultural pressures, but are good starting points for discussion and contemplation of possibilities.

In many ways, this would be a particularly good book club book, because there is so much in it to argue about. It's definitely worth reading once.

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LibraryThing member Edwinrelf

Pity it is poorly written. It needed a better editor. Too many propositions of the sort .. "This is so because xyz which we'll tell you about later.." The authors are racing ahead of themselves with their idea without giving sufficient proof.

LibraryThing member DaveGore

This book lays the foundation for a whole new way of looking at history. It also implies that we are currently under strong pressure to evolve as a species.

LibraryThing member jasonlf

Overwritten, did not feel reliable, too much was repeating the standard story, develops fully the notion that genetic evolution is ongoing and has played a role not just in the origins of humans but in their prehistory and even history.

LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind

Some interesting ideas - mainly the fact that human evolution is a continuous process, and attempts to provide some evidence of that. Some shoddy logic, sparse citations and tenuously supported ideas (mainly the idea of 'intelligence' in connection to the Ashkenazi Jews - vague definitions all

around), but the book has some worth.

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LibraryThing member nosajeel

LibraryThing member BillRob

Great book showing how the development of "modern" human practices drove evolution into our current Modern practices that we all love today. Several thought leaders today would label this book as white supremacy, but it covers global developments and is really thought inspiring. Highly recommend.

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