Wessen, K. 2005. Simulating human origins and evolution. – Cambridge, Cambridge University Press

Abstract

When I first started reading this book, I expected it to be full of simulations of well known theories, such as the ‘Out of Africa’ model versus the ‘multi-origin’ model or an estimation of the time for Eve. I expected the computer models described in the book to be used to test these theories or to describe some new theories based on the outcomes of these models. However, it soon became clear that this was not the case. Instead of claiming to have yet another ‘fail proof’ method to reconstruct our human origins, Ken Wessen wants no more than to use simulations to investigate the effects normal day to day decisions can have on the evolutionary lineage of humans. The decision you may make some day or have already made to move to another country or to marry this person instead of that, such decisions can change what our descendants will look like in the far away future. In his book, he simulates the evolution of populations by varying migration, mating strategies, population demographics and fossilization to investigate the pitfalls of reconstruction of evolution. Read more...