1962, the Soviet Union. Eight-year-old Katya is bequeathed a Blüthner piano, built at the turn of the century in Germany, on which she discovers everything that she herself can do with music and what music, in turn, does for her. Years later, married, she emigrates from Russia to America; her piano is lost in the shuffle. 2012, Bakersfield, California. Auto mechanic Clara Lundy's search for an apartment is complicated by the gift her parents gave her shortly before they died in a fire: a Blüthner upright she has never learned to play. When her hand gets broken while the piano's being moved, she decides to sell it. -- adapted from jacket
"A groundbreaking book about how technological advances in genomics and the extraction of ancient DNA have profoundly changed our understanding of human prehistory while resolving many long-standing controversies. Massive technological innovations now allow scientists to extract and analyze ancient DNA as never before, and it has become clear--in part from David Reich's own contributions to the field--that genomics is as important a means of understanding the human past as archeology, linguistics, and the written word. Now, in The New Science of the Human Past, Reich describes with unprecedented clarity just how the human genome provides not only all the information that a fertilized human egg needs to develop but also contains within it the history of our species. He delineates how the Genomic Revolution and ancient DNA are transforming our understanding of our own lineage as modern humans; how genomics deconstructs the idea that there are no biologically meaningful differences among human populations (though without adherence to pernicious racist hierarchies); and how DNA studies reveal the deep history of human inequality--among different populations, between the sexes, and among individuals within a population"-- Provided by publisher.
"Scholars have known moments of surprise, catastrophe, or good fortune, though they seldom refer to these occurrences in reports or discuss them. Revealing the different kinds of work scholars, particularly those in rhetoric, need to do to recognize a serendipitous discovery or a missed opportunity"--Provided by publisher.
"The Earth's deep past is a fascinating place to visit, both disturbingly alien and hauntingly familiar. In its life, the Earth has frozen solid, supported enormous animals (themselves sporting enormous fleas!), accommodated a diversity of cultures, and a diversity of ways-of-living. Rock, Bone & Ruin asks how much we can know about the deep past. To answer this, we need to understand the resources at our disposal: how do historical scientists like paleontologists, archaeologists and geologists learn about prehistory? Most people think of simple relationships--such as that between a fossilized bone and its long-dead owner--when they consider historical evidence. However, I argue that such scientists are best understood as 'methodological omnivores': they are creative, opportunistic and use a variety of different strategies and techniques. The reasoning used by historical scientists is much more diverse and complex than we have previously realized. And this supports optimism about our capacity to discover the deep past: our knowledge of it shall continue to grow. Along the way, we critically examine philosophical and scientific reflection on the relationship between the past and the present, the nature of evidence, contingency, scientific progress and scientific. Further, I provide suggestions about the value of knowledge about the past--including how it can inform us in the present and into the future--and how such sciences are best supported. The argument draws on fascinating examples from across paleontology, geology and archaeology"-- Provided by publisher.
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