Beyond Race Human Biological Diversity [Paperback]

Race. Its an idea that dominates our culture and continues to generate societal tensions. But what really are human races? Are races meaningful in a biological sense? What is the significance of the variety of human skin and hair colors? Are black, white, Asian, and Native American valid categories that reflect basic human differences?

Beyond Race: Human Biological Diversity answers these questions and provides the most recent scientific studies on human genetic groups and on the origins of the human family tree. Beyond Race allows students to view humanity through the lens of modern biology and re-evaluate societys traditional ideas about human races. Exciting new findings about human evolution are presented along with DNA analyses that have revised our understanding of human history. In this context the reader will reflect on race and how racial distinctions have influenced society's attitude to and treatment of different groups of people.

Beyond Race begins with discussions of the concepts that are the foundation of biology. These foundations provide the basic biological context that is essential to a genuine understanding of the current revolution in the study of human relationships. Coverage of Darwins principles, evolution, biological classification, the emergence of life from chemistry, cell reproduction, and genetics lead to a sophisticated appreciation of DNA lineages. The reader will find all of this invaluable in navigating the modern world of genetic and ancestry testing. The study of genomics also is central to understanding human biological diversity and is woven into the content.

As a result of this comprehensive and integrated coverage, students will learn that the separation of humans into races is not biologically valid and that the idea of race can now be replaced with the concept of a more accurately detailed human family tree. The primary goal of Beyond Race is not to give students siml3½