Neanderthal Man

In Search of Lost Genomes

De: Svante Pääbo

Narrado por: Dennis Holland

A preeminent geneticist hunts the Neanderthal genome to answer the biggest question of them all: What does it mean to be human?

What can we learn from the genes of our closest evolutionary relatives? Neanderthal Man tells the story of geneticist Svante Pbo’s mission to answer that question, beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in his sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2009. From Pbo, we learn how Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our hominin relatives and may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct. Drawing on genetic and fossil clues, Pbo explores what is known about the origin of modern humans and their relationship to the Neanderthals and describes the fierce debate surrounding the nature of the two species’ interactions.

A riveting story about a visionary researcher and the nature of scientific inquiry, Neanderthal Man offers rich insight into the fundamental question of who we are.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2014 Svante Pääbo (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Plotting the Neanderthal genome - Spelbinding

Mixing his own story with the scientific advances that he and his team has made in extracting the Neanderthal genome from thousand years old bones, Prof. Svante Pääbo, wrote an engaging and very interesting account of what might have been uninteresting scientific facts. He helps the nonspecialist listener like myself to understand not only the achievement of constructing the Neanderthal genome but its significance for us today. Who would have thought that while some human beings migrated from Africa to the rest of the world, some stayed behind. The differences between those who migrated and those left behind was a adventurous journey in which these early human beings encountered Neanderthal men and even bred with them. The journey to his conclusions are facinating and even spelbinding at stages.

I think this memoir is very important as demolishes some hypotheses in the field of Science that have become embedded in our make-up. It challenges the listener to think in a new way of him or herself and of our origins. It also challenges concepts like primitive and hopefully will demolish some forms of racial prejudice.

For me relating to Prof. Pääbo on a personal level was very difficult however. I realised that him not being a Christian, bisexual and the way he got his wife, were not in line with my own values. This made it sometimes hard to listen to his book. Yet, I was greatful for his honesty in the book. I think it helped me to be convinced of his integrity. This made his story so much more believable.

Dennis Holland did a superb job in narrating the book. I suspect that his narration has contributed to enhancing the content of the book and making it more accessible to the general listening public.

This book is strongly recommended for anyone who wants to know a bit about Neanderthal men and how our distant cousins impacted on the human race. It comes highly recommended.

Loved The Process

I loved that Dr. Pääbo walked us through the entire process of his research and how he overcame the challenges he encountered. I also liked that he talked about his anxiety with regards to not publishing early enough.

NEANDERTHAL

“Neanderthal Man” offers more than most science dilettantes will want to know about human origins. Three fourths of the author’s book takes one into the science of genetics. The remainder is about science competition, the race for publication, and the personal experience of the author. Pääbo convinces one that desire-to-know, curiosity, and enthusiasm are the ingredients of break-through discoveries. Pääbo’s explanation of how he became involved in cracking the genetic code of an ancient descendant of humankind begins with his interest in Egyptian mummies. Pääbo is curious about the potential of being able to recover genetic material from a mummified body. His curiosity and enthusiasm is symptomatically expressed with late-hour science lab experiments after his regular work day. During the work day he is an intern in a University lab while pursuing a PhD.

In the early years of Pääbo’s career, he pursues his interest by securing mummy samples to test a hypothesis that genetic material cam be recovered after mummification. His research is marginally successful but flawed by inexperience. Despite the marginal success of his early experiments, curiosity and enthusiasm lead Pääbo to an obsessive interest in the science of genetics. As Pääbo’s education and life progresses, the idea of genetically mapping human remains leads to a search for “Neanderthal Man”.

“Neanderthal Man” is an interesting book but more suited for a geneticist than the general public. A dilettante may choose to pass.

Not what I thought

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It would depend on who that friend was!

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

Very very technical but still I caught a lot of it because he describes things very well. I have a mere bachelors degree so this was... a lot for me. I by no means caught it all but did learn a lot.

Any additional comments?

I really thought this would be more about our ancient ancestors and Neanderthals and give a lot of details about the past. Instead it is very autobiographical and primarily about the author's (admittedly) interesting career and life. As a result I have learned A TON about the science behind the dating of ancient artifacts and fossils. If you are not in the science field it could also be an eye-opening view into the nature of research... rustling up funding and the race to publish... the competition etc.
It's not what I thought it would be but it has definitely been interesting and I have learned new things. Boy do I wish I were smarter though...

excellent human & scientific story

This is an fascinating and well told story clearly telling not only the scientific challenges of measuring ancient genomes and the issues in running a scientific enterprise but also the human experience and feelings involved.