Understanding Human Diversity

Jonathan Marks has worked in biological anthropology and evolutionary genetics and is presently a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has been a visiting research fellow at the ESRC Genomics Institute in Edinburgh, at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, and at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study in Indiana. His work has been published in Science and Nature, and his prolific scholarship has appeared in journals ranging from American Anthropologist to Zygon.

'This book presents several interpretations that challenge conventional views on genetics and anthropology … Overall, Marks presents alternative interpretations of genetic research, suggesting a more complex view of human diversity that prioritizes culture, history and social context … his critiques of genetic determinism, racial essentialism and human evolution [are] both engaging and sharp. His playful tone helps to deflate overly serious or misguided claims, bringing a more human touch to the discussions of biology and anthropology.' Gustaaf Houtman, Anthropology Today

• 1. DNA is not our deep inner core; 2. Our fate is not in our genes; 3. We are not 98% chimpanzee; 4. Human variation is not race; 5. Political and economic inequality is not the result of genetics; 6. Human kinship transcends genetics; 7. Men and women are both from Earth; 8. You are not 2% interestingly exotic; 9. We can't breed a better kind of person; 10. Conclusions; Summary of common misunderstandings; References; Figure credits; Index.