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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Who do you think you are?
Have you ever thought about who you might be related to?
What if we told you that you were related to EXTRAORDINARY EMPERORS, GREAT KINGS and MAGNIFICENT QUEENS? Well, your majesty, you are. In fact, everyone is. And geneticist Adam Rutherford is here to tell you how.
Discover everything you need to know about human history, from EVOLUTION to the FIRST LIFE ON EARTH, from DINOSAURS to YOU. Along the way, you’ll find out just how far us humans have migrated, how we’re all related to a SUPER CHEESY MAN and why, despite us having different skin colours, living in different places or speaking different languages, we all come from the same place.
This is the epic story of where we come from, what race really is and why we’re all, ultimately, one human family.
Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, science writer and broadcaster. E. L. Norry is an experienced writer of fiction and non-fiction for children. This is a very readable guide to genetics for readers aged 9+that explains evolution, genes, race and tying it in with racism and racist myths. Adam Ming’s illustrations work perfectly with the text and I think the authors strike the right tone, getting over facts but with humour that keeps you engaged.
First and foremost I’d like to say that the tone of this book is absolutely right. Books about science can be a bit intimidating (even those for the children) but Rutherford, Norry and Ming go out of their way to make this friendly. They each give an introduction of who they are and what their heritage is, which immediately sets the tone and engages the reader (helped greatly by Ming’s illustrations of them all, which immediately humanises above being names on a page) and makes this book seem more like a chat.
The book starts waaaaaay back with the Big Bang and the beginning of the universe, giving the reader a potted history of the formation of the Earth and then the beginning of life and DNA. It is genuinely surprising how much information Rutherford and Norry get across here and yet it is all very straightforward to follow - even though some of the concepts are very complicated. The authors then move on to evolution and natural selection and the different ages of dinosaurs and how they came to be wiped out and then replaced by mammals and man (which includes an explanation for how we define and classify different species).
There are plenty of really interesting nuggets of information in the book, including how we’re probably all descended from some king or queen from hundreds or thousands of years ago to why some people have one eye that’s a different colour to the other. Where the book really comes into its own though is in the final third, where the authors talk about genetics and race and how eugenics feeds into racism and racist notions about people from other backgrounds. There’s no judgment in these chapters but a lot of facts and a lot of calm, rational explanations for why racism is based on nonsense.
All in all, this is a really good read that leaves readers with a better knowledge of genetics and biology and as such I think it’s well worth the investment if you have a young reader who is interested in science and wants to know more about this subject.
The Verdict:
Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, science writer and broadcaster. E. L. Norry is an experienced writer of fiction and non-fiction for children. This is a very readable guide to genetics for readers aged 9+that explains evolution, genes, race and tying it in with racism and racist myths. Adam Ming’s illustrations work perfectly with the text and I think the authors strike the right tone, getting over facts but with humour that keeps you engaged.
WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM? was released in the United Kingdom on 28th September 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Have you ever thought about who you might be related to?
What if we told you that you were related to EXTRAORDINARY EMPERORS, GREAT KINGS and MAGNIFICENT QUEENS? Well, your majesty, you are. In fact, everyone is. And geneticist Adam Rutherford is here to tell you how.
Discover everything you need to know about human history, from EVOLUTION to the FIRST LIFE ON EARTH, from DINOSAURS to YOU. Along the way, you’ll find out just how far us humans have migrated, how we’re all related to a SUPER CHEESY MAN and why, despite us having different skin colours, living in different places or speaking different languages, we all come from the same place.
Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, science writer and broadcaster. E. L. Norry is an experienced writer of fiction and non-fiction for children. This is a very readable guide to genetics for readers aged 9+that explains evolution, genes, race and tying it in with racism and racist myths. Adam Ming’s illustrations work perfectly with the text and I think the authors strike the right tone, getting over facts but with humour that keeps you engaged.
First and foremost I’d like to say that the tone of this book is absolutely right. Books about science can be a bit intimidating (even those for the children) but Rutherford, Norry and Ming go out of their way to make this friendly. They each give an introduction of who they are and what their heritage is, which immediately sets the tone and engages the reader (helped greatly by Ming’s illustrations of them all, which immediately humanises above being names on a page) and makes this book seem more like a chat.
The book starts waaaaaay back with the Big Bang and the beginning of the universe, giving the reader a potted history of the formation of the Earth and then the beginning of life and DNA. It is genuinely surprising how much information Rutherford and Norry get across here and yet it is all very straightforward to follow - even though some of the concepts are very complicated. The authors then move on to evolution and natural selection and the different ages of dinosaurs and how they came to be wiped out and then replaced by mammals and man (which includes an explanation for how we define and classify different species).
There are plenty of really interesting nuggets of information in the book, including how we’re probably all descended from some king or queen from hundreds or thousands of years ago to why some people have one eye that’s a different colour to the other. Where the book really comes into its own though is in the final third, where the authors talk about genetics and race and how eugenics feeds into racism and racist notions about people from other backgrounds. There’s no judgment in these chapters but a lot of facts and a lot of calm, rational explanations for why racism is based on nonsense.
All in all, this is a really good read that leaves readers with a better knowledge of genetics and biology and as such I think it’s well worth the investment if you have a young reader who is interested in science and wants to know more about this subject.
The Verdict:
Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, science writer and broadcaster. E. L. Norry is an experienced writer of fiction and non-fiction for children. This is a very readable guide to genetics for readers aged 9+that explains evolution, genes, race and tying it in with racism and racist myths. Adam Ming’s illustrations work perfectly with the text and I think the authors strike the right tone, getting over facts but with humour that keeps you engaged.
WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM? was released in the United Kingdom on 28th September 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
