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A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History Second Printing Edition

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Nicholas Wade (Author)
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Nicholas Wade (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 330 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-1594204463
ISBN-10: 1594204462
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Press; Second Printing edition (May 6, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1594204462
  • ISBN-13: 978-1594204463
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (330 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsAn important book that explodes a popular myth
By Anomaly on August 6, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
A Troublesome Inheritance, by Nicholas Wade, should be read by anyone interested in race and recent human evolution. Wade deserves credit for challenging the popular dogma that biological differences between groups either don't exist or cannot explain the relative success of different groups at different tasks. Wade's work should be read alongside another recent book, The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution, by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending.

Together these books represent a major turning point in the public debate about the speed with which relatively isolated groups can evolve: both books suggest that small genetic differences between members of different groups can have large impacts on their abilities and propensities, which in turn affect the outcomes of the societies in which they live. Ever since the 1950s, Wade argues, many academics have denied the biological reality of race, and some have suggested that merely believing in racial differences constitutes a kind of racism (p. 69). But the rejection of race as a useful concept is often more of a political pose than a serious scientific claim, and it became especially popular among academics after the Second World War, during which Nazi pseudo-scientists used claims of racial superiority to justify mass murder.

As it turns out, Ashkenazi Jews - those from Russia, Poland, and Germany, who were nearly exterminated in the Holocaust - have been consistently found by intelligence researchers to have the highest IQ in the world.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsAnd don't forget the genes
By Ashutosh S. Jogalekar TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on May 6, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
In this book Nicholas Wade advances two simple premises: firstly, that we should stop looking only toward culture as a determinant of differences between populations and individuals, and secondly, that those who claim that any biological basis for race is fiction are ignoring increasingly important findings from modern genetics and science. The guiding thread throughout the book is that "human evolution is recent, copious and regional" and that this has led to the genesis of distinct differences and classifications between human groups. What we do with this evidence should always be up for social debate, but the evidence itself cannot be ignored.

That is basically the gist of the book. It's worth noting at the outset that at no point does Wade downplay the effects of culture and environment in dictating social, cognitive or behavioral differences - in fact he mentions culture as an important factor at least ten times by my count - but all he is saying is that, based on a variety of scientific studies enabled by the explosive recent growth of genomics and sequencing, we need to now recognize a strong genetic component to these differences.

The book can be roughly divided into three parts. The first part details the many horrific and unseemly uses that the concept of race has been put to by loathsome racists and elitists ranging from Social Darwinists to National Socialists. Wade reminds us that while these perpetrators had a fundamentally misguided, crackpot definition of race, that does not mean race does not exist in a modern incarnation.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Scientifically Accurate Inheritance.
By fenx1200 on November 26, 2014
Format: Hardcover
I have been involved with genetics since 1983 and have been closely observing the recent revolution occurring in the technology that sequences genomes. The genetic information revealed in this book has been known for some time, but organizations like the American Anthropological Association proclaim that race is not real (biologically), and actively suppress this information from becoming public. This is a political strategy and not scientific reality. Any forensic anthropologist can identify the race of a skull found at the scene of a crime in a few minutes (Caucasian, Black, Asian/Native American) This is a routine function of crime scene analysis.
President Obama and Bill Nye have also stated publicly and in print (Nye) that race is not real. These statements are misleading and serve no more than a political purpose. Millions of people from around the world have had have their genomes sequenced by such giants as 23andMe. The information that is being compiled and analyzed is releasing a startling amount of genetic information concerning human evolution. Did you know that Tibetans evolved a genetic variant in their genes that allow them to live at high altitudes? Since 1980, every finalist in the Olympic 100 meter dash has had West African ancestry... want to learn more? This book is must read for everyone who has an interest in the science of evolution. I give the author credit for bringing forth this book and I hope more similar books follow. Genetics will be the driving force of the 21st Century.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Another excellent book, great for a book group

Published 22 hours ago by M. Strong
4.0 out of 5 starsGood stuff

I'm a sucker for the "Barbara Streisand Effect". When someone tells me I shouldn't read a book, I'll run out and read it. Read more

Published 1 day ago by Gordon McQueen
4.0 out of 5 starsGood premise, bad science

A very interesting and informative read. That being said it gives poor and narrow science. It seems to be mostly conjecture from researchers and theorists of the past. Read more

Published 12 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Very informative book

Published 13 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great, fast, thanks!

Published 1 month ago by Lanquidity
5.0 out of 5 starsThe general thesis is defensible

It's expected that a book about genetics and race will elicit extreme reactions. Just look at all the passionate 1-star reviews. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Francis Tapon
4.0 out of 5 starsWe are immersed in the Proof that Culture is Primarily Genetically...

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Published 2 months ago by Dr Max H
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Excellent book

Published 2 months ago by Gremlin
1.0 out of 5 starsThe book begins by trying to refine the term race ...

The book begins by trying to refine the term race. He identifies three lines of recent human descent, and calls them "races. Read more

Published 3 months ago by sls239
3.0 out of 5 starsHalf of a good book on race and evolution; but there are scientific...

The author makes a good job of discussing what races are - of course they exist, if only as trivial difference in eye folds and nose shapes - and describing the way evolution... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Lisa

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