Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza

Genes, Pueblos y Lenguas

Marcus W. Feldman

A number of scholars have found that concepts such as mutation, selection, and random drift, which emerged from the theory of biological evolution, may also explain evolutionary phenomena in other disciplines as well. Drawing on these concepts, Professors Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman classify and systematize the various modes of transmitting "culture" and explore their consequences for cultural evolution. In the process, they develop a mathematical theory of the non-genetic transmission of cultural traits that provides a framework for future investigations in quantitative social and anthropological science. The authors use quantitative models that incorporate the various modes of transmission (for example, parent-child, peer-peer, and teacher-student), and evaluate data from sociology, archaeology, and epidemiology in terms of the models. They show that the various modes of transmission in conjunction with cultural and natural selection produce various rates of cultural evolution and various degrees of diversity within and between groups. The same framework can be used for explaining phenomena as apparently unrelated as linguistics, epidemics, social values and customs, and diffusion of innovations. The authors conclude that cultural transmission is an essential factor in the study of cultural change.

A Quantitative Approach

Cultural Transmission and Evolution

Historians relying on written records can tell us nothing about the 99.9 per cent of human evolution which preceded the invention of writing. It is the study of generic variation, backed up by language and archaeology, which provides concrete evidence about the spread of cultural innovations, the movements of people across the globe, the precise links between races, and the sheer unscientific absurdity of racism. Cavalli-Sforza was both a pioneer in the field and the world's leading contributor to it. This book offers a wonderfully accessible account of his key results.

Genes, Peoples and Languages

In the course of his work, Cavalli-Sforza joined forces with archaeologists, linguists, anthropologists, and molecular biologists. He shows how both archaeological and genetic data were used to track human migrations during the spread of agriculture; he probes such topics as the existence of a single ancestral language and the relationship between biological and linguistic evolution; and he brings us up to date with his current work as chief sponsor of the human genome diversity project, an ambitious attempt to analyze the most significant individual variations in human genomes.

The History of Diversity and Evolution

The Great Human Diasporas

Paolo Menozzi

Alberto Piazza

L’opera fondamentale per chi vuole cominciare a capire il rapporto fra il nostro patrimonio genetico e la storia delle civiltà. «Questo è lo studio a tutt’oggi più completo delle variazioni genetiche umane, e getta le basi di ogni futura ricerca sull’antropologia genetica. Una straordinaria commistione di sintesi e analisi» «Science».

Storia e geografia dei geni umani

(Abridged paperback edition)

The History and Geography of Human Genes

A Quantitative Approach. (MPB-16)

Cultural Transmission and Evolution (MPB-16), Volume 16

Hailed as a breakthrough in the understanding of human evolution, The History and Geography of Human Genes offers the first full-scale reconstruction of where human populations originated and the paths by which they spread throughout the world. By mapping the worldwide geographic distribution of genes for over 110 traits in over 1800 primarily aboriginal populations, the authors charted migrations and devised a clock by which to date evolutionary history. This monumental work is now available in a more affordable paperback edition without the myriad illustrations and maps, but containing the full text and partial appendices of the authors' pathbreaking endeavor.

Abridged paperback Edition

Luca Cavalli-Sforza

By mapping the worldwide geographic distribution of the genes, the scientists are now able to chart migrations and, in exploring genetic distance, devise a clock by which to date evolutionary history: the longer two populations are separated, the greater their genetic difference should be.

Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza

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