Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived (Rutherford) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Rutherford’s follow-up to his highly regarded first book Creation is an effervescent work, brimming with tales and confounding ideas carried in the "epic poem in our cells." The myriad storylines will leave you swooning.… Rutherford, a trained geneticist, is an enthusiastic guide. He is especially illuminating on the nebulous concept of race, how it both does and doesn’t exist. Rutherford has proved himself a commendable historian—one who is determined to illuminate the commonality of Homo sapiens.
Guardian (UK)


Fifteen years ago, the first sequence and analysis of the human genome was published. A monumental surge in genetics followed. Science writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford rides that tide and traces its effects, first focusing on how genetics has enriched, and in some cases upset, our understanding of human evolution, then examining the revelations of recent findings, such as deep flaws in the concept of race.… Rutherford unpeels the science with elegance.
Nature


A sweeping new view of the human evolution story, using the latest science of DNA as the central guide.… Recommended.
Scientific American


(Starred review.) Rutherford raises significant questions and explains complex topics well, engaging readers with humor and smooth prose.
Publishers Weekly


At times, Rutherford succumbs to editorializing on peripheral topics, including creationism, epigenetics, and genetic determinism, but he continues to be a witty writer throughout…. By turns amusing and provocative. —Nancy R. Curtis, Univ. of Maine Lib., Orono
Library Journal


An enthusiastic history of mankind [through] DNA … followed by a hopeful if cautionary account of what the recent revolution in genomics foretells.… Often quirky but thoughtful—solid popular science.
Kirkus Reviews