Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 909.04924
EAN: 9780300125832
ISBN: 0300125836
Label: Yale University Press
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 176
Publication Date: 2008-05-28
Publisher: Yale University Press
Studio: Yale University Press

(20080722)

Customer Rating:
Summary: The Jews in History & the History in Jews ..a remarkable synthesis
Comment: In Jacob's Legacy, David Goldstein, ("I am a geneticist. But I am also a Jew.") demonstrates the remarkable synergy from combining genetic and historical research. The historical record suggests the possibility that the Jewish high priests might today be distinguished genetically from those of the Jews who were not high priests. Indeed, Goldstein and his colleagues were able to identify significant genetic similarities, and further to suggest that the ancestral generation (Generation 1) goes back roughly 3,000 year, or within the approximate time of Solomon, which is what the historical record would suggest. Similarly, the historical record points to the possibility that a Bantu speaking tribe in Africa (the Bantu people themselves displaying a impressive record of migration and settlement) might be of Jewish descent. Here again, Goldstein and his colleagues were able to show that one in ten of the Y chromosomes were revealed to be within the Cohan Modal Haplotype identified earlier in the study of high priests. The most surprising result in the book is the possibility, which Goldstein could not falsify, that Ashkenazi Jews may trace their origins, not so much to the ancient Israelites, as to the Khazari sources.

The historical events covered in Jacob's Legacy demonstrate a well-balanced combination of historical sources and modern genetic analytical techniques. Further, Goldstein's summaries of the historical record and his digressions on the larger meaning of the Jews in history are exceedingly concise and work to place Jacob's Legacy in the larger context of global history. If Goldstein set out to convince his readers that genetic and historical analysis can be combined to enrich their understanding of the past, he has succeeded admirably. This slender volume delivers a solid punch.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: provocative but unsatisfying
Comment: What I like best is Goldstein's measured approach to presenting his conclusions. There is much here that could have been said sensationally or one-sidedly, but Goldstein is skeptical and even-handed, the more remarkably so as he is presenting his own research.

The writing is just OK. Even this is something to be grateful for: accurate, comprehensible writing about science by a scientist.

It doesn't compare, though, to classics of popular science. The conclusions could be summarized in a short article. Instead of using the extra pages to give a really understandable picture of methods and context, Goldstein gives us a fluffy narrative: I thought about studying this, then I got ready to study it, then I had lunch, I liked the salad, etc., along with some lame, professorial jokes that students would laugh at because it's expected of them.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Some steps are missing...
Comment: This is a trial of explaining how genetic investigation can help historial investigation. It's not a new device: the patron of those studies is Luca Cavalli-Sforza. The author jewishness relates to his study and we understand some trends from jewish diaspora: the Lemba have the male genetic markers of jewish priests but have some, not many, jewish traditions; the abyssinian jews that are halachic jews do not have those markers. The askenazi have some markers that suggests strongly the contribuition of a turkish tribe, the Khazars, to their gene pool. The book is easy to understand with somebody with biological information basis, it will be not so easy for completly lay persons.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: good technical view
Comment: This is a concise book about the current genetic data about various sub groups of Jews. It covers several of the small groups who may have identifiable DNA 'finger prints'. The concentration is on using DNA for identification and not for illnesses. This is written by a genetic analyst, who provides the background information about the limits of DNA tracking. Overall the book is interesting and useful.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: 3000 years in 176 pages
Comment: This book, a summary of research on genetics of Jewish people, is by a person in the best position to tell the story: a geneticist and a Jew. Goldstein's research deals with tracing heredity as far back as possible, and it is his project that is probing connections between Jews all over the world. He shows it is possible that Jews who think they are descendents of high priests from the days of the First Temple really are, and that Africans who believe they originated with the early Hebrews actually did. He also contrasts genetic descent through males and females and offers an explanation of why hereditary diseases found mostly in Jews may confer an advantage. The technical portions are easy to understand and the book is no longer than it needs to be. It's a fast, jargon-free read and is highly recommended.

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