Re: Recommended PBS TV Program

I saw this a while back. It's really well done. There's an
unintentionally funny and poignant moment, though, when Wells seeks out and
meets a Mongolian (I think he's Mongolian, but I don't exactly rememer)
person who apparently is a direct descendant of the progenitor of all Asian
people living today (or something like that). The poor Mongolian man is
completely befuddled and has no clue what Wells is trying to tell him about
his ancestry. That moment seems as powerful a commentary on geopolitics,
education, and affluence as it is on the possibilities of forensic genetics.

On 1/7/06, Jack Haas <haas.john@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> *Greetings:
>
> *I would encourage all of you to view "Journey of Man" on your local PBS
> station. It is being re-broadcast on PBS channels in the Boston area Sat
> and Sunday (and presumably in the rest of the US) following the initial
> showing earlier this week. Very accessible, but the science is first rate.
> Jack Haas
> *
>
>
> "Journey of Man*
> Geneticist Spencer Wells is embarking on the biggest adventure of his
> life. His mission: to retrace the most extraordinary journey of all
> time, a journey that affected every man, woman, and child alive today.
> About 60,000 years ago, the human family numbered only a few and
> inhabited one continent, Africa. Then, forced by drought and famine,
> this small group left its homeland and embarked on a hazardous journey.
> They didn't stop until they had reached the ends of the earth. We are
> all their children. Join Wells as he travels to every continent on
> Earth. From the deserts of Namibia to the frozen tundra of the Russian
> Arctic, he meets the key human groups that hold the genetic history of
> mankind in their blood."
>
Received on Sat Jan 7 15:16:57 2006