African Exodus

This book should be read in conjunction with my own Race, Evolution, and Behavior so that all the missing pieces of the puzzle can be seen. The parts of the book that review human origins are competent and very readable. Unfortunately, major errors appear in the book when it descends to the politically obligatory trashing of both The Bell Curve and my own work. In my case, instead of taking the time to read, cite, and critique my 1995 book intelligently, the authors rely mainly on a 1994 account of it in the tabloid magazine Rolling Stone! The basic political argument of African Exodus is as follows: "In any case, the story of our African Exodus makes it unlikely that there are significant structural or functional differences between the brains of the world's various peoples" (p. 181). The logic here is especially odd given that other parts of the book present a fascinating discussion of how populations vary in jaw size and in number of teeth. For example, page 215 states: "Among Europeans, for example, it has been found that up to 15 percent of people have at least two wisdom teeth missing...while in east Asia, the figure can be as much as 30 percent in some areas." As an example of evolutionary pressure, the book describes how before modern medicine, impacted wisdom teeth often became infected and led to death. The authors appear to find it plausible for evolution to act through differential death rates resulting from differences in the number of wisdom teeth and yet find it implausible that death rates could vary in different regions because of differential intelligence as an adaptation to extreme cold. While Stringer and McKie describe how noses and skin color have been shaped in different regions, they deny that there are any cognitive differences and they withhold from readers the modern literature on brain size and IQ. Perhaps least forthright in this regard is the citation (p. 177) of Beals et al.'s (1984) study of worldwide variation in cranial size (which I cited earlier) and their attribution of these racial differences only to "climate," as though climate is not a likely potent source of natural selection for intelligence.

I pondered purchasing this book for quite a long time based on some of the negative views written on this page about this book. After reading several other books on this topic I took the plunge. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found some of the reviews about the book to be simplistic or myopic in thought. I ponder how many of the bad reviews were written by paleontologists who disagree with C. Stringer. Being a meteorologist, I found nothing offensive. I strongly agreed with his concept of hard scientific data and quantifying numbers to prove points.No doubt, this book was written with latter evidence, including the DNA evidence that allows more specific conclusions. I found the lineage and concepts in line with those put forward by Tattersal and others suggesting no real bombshells in this book. The book reads very well and is generally well written. The book portrays what most up-to-date books on this topic cover in a concise and consistent manner. The treatment of Neanderthals is good and in no way is negative. It is tragic that they did not survive much beyond about 30 kyrs ago. Anyone interested in current thinking on human evolutions should read this book. Finally, the title of this book is well taken; we are all Africans based on our evolution. Too bad we all don't realize who and what we all are!

I disagree with the two reviews that have been made of this book. Stringer does a great job of getting his point across, and he does not treat neandertals in a poor way. In fact, he is quite an expert on them, having already written an entire book only about them. What this seems to be is that two people whose theories Stringer skillfully tears apart (Multiregionalism, for example) have both penned their anger in having been outwitted here, in an attempt to discredit the book. Stringer defends his claims very well, apparently too well.