Christine Kenneally is an award-winning journalist and author who has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Slate, Time magazine, New Scientist, The Monthly, and other publications. She is the author of The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. She was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, and lives in New York City.
The construction of identity is the concern at the heart of this
original and provocative book, which employs the approaches of
psychology, sociology, philosophy, and Mendelian genetics. Case
studies of ethnic groups point to a complex, reciprocal
relationship among DNA, culture, and environment . . . . Genetic
traits, Kenneally shows, are modified by factors such as other
genes, noncoding DNA, and chemical changes in the body. She
suggests that one s understanding of one s identity is at least as
deterministic as one s genetic inheritance. When it comes to our
knowledge of DNA, Kenneally writes, there is still more dark matter
in this particular universe than not.
The New Yorker
[A] smart, splendid, highly entertaining look at how DNA,
increasingly visible to us since we first sequenced the human
genome in 2000, can open up tracts of human history that had been
entirely obscure. . . .While DNA may now be visible, however, it
remains more hint than history. Kenneally, a journalist and
linguist, shows that just as a gene usually delivers its genetic
message only in conversation with an incoming chemical messenger,
so our DNA tells its tales most fully only in light of the history
of the people who carry and interrogate it. It takes all those
threads to get the whole story. And Kenneally wants it all. . . .
[W]hat will prove lasting is her evocation of how much perspective
and even wisdom can be extracted from some determined digging and a
bit of spit. The breadth of this book; its abundance of enthralling
accounts and astonishing science; its adept, vivid writing; and
Kenneally s exquisitely calibrated judgment make it the richest,
freshest, most fun book on genetics in some time.
The New York Times Book Review
[Questions about genealogy] can upend lives, particularly those of
adoptees or descendants of slaves . . . But what receives far less
attention is how genealogy can reveal secrets about all of us, at
once: the emergence of our species, the political history of the
world, and the origins of the social structures that dictate modern
life. As Christine Kenneally writes in this engrossing new book,
genealogy s boom gives us historical transparency as never before.
The Invisible History of the Human Race is packed with stories that
make this point . . . . Ms. Kenneally points out, the categories we
use to talk about race black, white, Asian, Hispanic are in large
part cultural. Genetic differences among populations don t fit into
clear-cut boundaries.In fact, if the genome has taught us anything,
it is that our DNA has far less influence on our lives than the
culture we are born into. And here lies the best argument for
genealogy: It unearths nature and nurture, to make our invisible
histories visible, free for all to know and to judge.
The New York Times
In the current fad for omnibus histories of absolutely everything,
designed to replace ancient metaphysics, perhaps, or answer some
marketing brainwave, no one has succeeded in quite the way
Christine Kenneally has. She approaches her task with a very
specific enquiry: what is the interplay between genetics and human
history? Searching for an answer, she uncovers worlds within
worlds. Kenneally brings the old nurture nature debate into updated
focus.
Australian Book Review
A family mystery a gap where her father s father should be goaded
science writer Christine Kenneally into exploring the phenomenon of
identity. Kenneally goes at it full tilt, taking a machete to a
jungle of genomics; reassessing the contentious practice of
genealogy; unravelling the knotted realities of adoption; and
pondering DNA testing. This sparkling, sometimes harrowing read is
packed with intriguing interludes, such as still-speculative
findings on the dark-skinned Melungeons of Appalachia.
Nature
Genealogy gets a bad rap, author Christine Kenneally writes,
because of its hint of elitism, its whiff of self-absorption, and
its slightly queasy associations with the concepts of breeding and
eugenics. (This view of the project is borne out when she looks at
a Nazi genealogical book, with its list of approved German names
and essays on race hygiene.) But, she argues, wanting to understand
the story of one s ancestors is understandable and human; it just
doesn t go far enough. If there s any overarching theme in this
sprawling, entertaining look at genetics and genealogy, it s that
we are always more than the sum of our biological parts.
Boston Globe
Scientists and scholars of humanities have separately made
remarkable advances in understanding links between chromosomes and
health or race, culture and specific traits, Kenneally writes. But
DNA does what it does without regard to any of the conceptual
silos, and so doesshe.
Misadventures Magazine Kenneally s book offers a . . . judicious
view of what gets passed down' . . . . [She] offers example after
example of how the work of amateur genealogists and professional
geneticists is rewriting history both in academia and the popular
imagination.
Salon
Shudder, all ye Daughters of the American Revolution, then pick up
a copy of Christine Kenneally's entertaining stew of a book . . .
[T]he title is a mouthful, and the topic turns out to be both
tantalizing and unruly. . . . Kenneally treks through research and
tracks down experts in economics, psychology, history and genetics.
Very pointedly, she crafts a love letter to genealogy. . . .
Kenneally has a gift for explanatory journalism.
Newsday
In captivating prose . . . Kenneally examines the impact
environment can have both on a person s immediate conditions and
the long-term influences exerted by cultural factors over many
generations. She interviews molecular biologists working to
understand how genes influence physical traits, population
geneticists attempting to reconstruct the genetic configuration of
centuries-old populations, genealogists looking to create family
lineages (as well as the principals of companies promoting such
searches), and those in charge of the Mormon archive of personal
demographic data, the largest of its sort in the world. Kenneally
ties these fascinating strands into a complex, powerful, and
engaging narrative. She superbly compares and contrasts the related
concepts of race and lineage while tackling the ways in which
eugenicists and Nazis misunderstood and misused the data available
to them. With those abuses in mind, she also confronts the premise
that simply making use of such information may be problematic.
Kenneally offers a rich, thoughtful blend of science, social
science, and philosophy in a manner that mixes personal history
with the history of the human species
Publishers Weekly
Kenneally, a freelance journalist whose essays have appeared in
theNew Yorker, theNew York TimesandNew Scientist, successfully
attempts a synthesis between the ways we consider genes and health,
genes and culture, genes and history, genes and race and genes and
special traits . . . . Kenneally illustrates how the intersection
of genetic information with family histories and census data can
engender surprising (and sometimes unsettling) results e.g., the
identification of a modern American descendant of Genghis Khan.
Kirkus Reviews
The word brilliant gets thrown around a lot, but it should be saved
for Christine Kenneally and her bookThe Invisible History of the
Human Race. Transcending the nature-nurture dichotomy, Kenneally
shows us how our societies and our selves got to be the way they
are. Don t read this book looking for neat answers gaze instead
through a glorious kaleidoscope of science, psychology, history,
and first-class storytelling.
Susan Cain, New York Timesbestselling author ofQuiet: The Power of
Introverts in a World That Can t Stop Talking
Christine Kenneally s brilliant, ambitious work integrates
cutting-edge genetics with a deeply humanistic perspective on our
personal and communal past. Transcending the usual intellectual
silos, she shows how historical events became inscribed in DNA and
how our ancestry casts riveting shadows onto the future. This
wholly original book will change how you view your parents, your
children, and your own messy, mosaic self.
Amanda Schaffer, contributor to theNew Yorkeronline and
contributing editor atMIT Technology Review
"Christine Kenneally vividly traces the astonishing 21st century
progress in the science of who we are. And she never loses sight of
the human stories we tell about our heredity and history, which
constitute us just as much as bits and genes do."
Jordan Ellenberg, professor of mathematics at the University of
Wisconsin, author ofHow Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical
Thinking
Christine Kenneally s sensational book belongs in the backpack of
anyone who wants to explore his or her family s past. Crisply
written and packed with myriad fresh facts and rights, The
Invisible Historywill make the journey down the genealogical trail
a lot richer and more meaningful.
Sylvia Nasar, author ofGrand Pursuit: The Story of Economic
Genius
Magnificently rich and sweeping in scope, in impeccable yet
intimate prose.
Cordelia Fine, ARC Future Fellow in Psychological Sciences and
Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, author
ofDelusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism
Create Difference
What a remarkable tour of the thousands of ways the past shapes who
we are. Christine Kenneally covers everything from Tasmanian
convict records to the absurdly complex genetics of height. By the
end, you ll have changed the way you think about identity, your
name, and all those double helixes in your cells.
AJ Jacobs, Author of theYear of Living Biblicallyand organizer of
the Global Family Reunion From the eBook edition."
"The construction of identity is the concern at the heart of this
original and provocative book, which employs the approaches of
psychology, sociology, philosophy, and Mendelian genetics. Case
studies of ethnic groups point to a complex, reciprocal
relationship among DNA, culture, and environment . . . . Genetic
traits, Kenneally shows, are modified by factors such as other
genes, noncoding DNA, and chemical changes in the body. She
suggests that one's understanding of one's identity is at least as
deterministic as one's genetic inheritance. When it comes to our
knowledge of DNA, Kenneally writes, 'there is still more dark
matter in this particular universe than not.'"
--"The New Yorker"
"[A] smart, splendid, highly entertaining look at how DNA,
increasingly visible to us since we first sequenced the human
genome in 2000, can 'open up tracts of human history that had been
entirely obscure.' . . .While DNA may now be visible, however, it
remains more hint than history. Kenneally, a journalist and
linguist, shows that just as a gene usually delivers its genetic
message only in conversation with an incoming chemical messenger,
so our DNA tells its tales most fully only in light of the history
of the people who carry and interrogate it. It takes all those
threads to get the whole story. And Kenneally wants it all. . . .
[W]hat will prove lasting is her evocation of how much perspective
and even wisdom can be extracted from some determined digging and a
bit of spit. The breadth of this book; its abundance of enthralling
accounts and astonishing science; its adept, vivid writing; and
Kenneally's exquisitely calibrated judgment make it the richest,
freshest, most fun book on genetics in some time."
--"The New York Times Book Review"
"""[Questions about genealogy] can upend lives, particularly those
of adoptees or descendants of slaves . . . But what receives far
less attention is how genealogy can reveal secrets about all of us,
at once: the emergence of our species, the political history of the
world, and the origins of the social structures that dictate modern
life. As Christine Kenneally writes in this engrossing new book,
genealogy's boom gives us "historical transparency" as never
before. "The Invisible History of the Human Race" is packed with
stories that make this point . . . . Ms. Kenneally points out, the
categories we use to talk about race -- black, white, Asian,
Hispanic -- are in large part cultural. Genetic differences among
populations don't fit into clear-cut boundaries.In fact, if the
genome has taught us anything, it is that our DNA has far less
influence on our lives than the culture we are born into. And here
lies the best argument for genealogy: It unearths nature and
nurture, to make our invisible histories visible, free for all to
know and to judge."
--"The New York Times"
"In the current fad for omnibus histories of absolutely everything,
designed to replace ancient metaphysics, perhaps, or answer some
marketing brainwave, no one has succeeded in quite the way
Christine Kenneally has. She approaches her task with a very
specific enquiry: what is the interplay between genetics and human
history? Searching for an answer, she uncovers worlds within
worlds. Kenneally brings the old nurture-nature debate into updated
focus."
"--Australian Book Review"
"A family mystery--a gap where her father's father should
be--goaded science writer Christine Kenneally into exploring the
phenomenon of identity. Kenneally goes at it full tilt, taking a
machete to a jungle of genomics; reassessing the contentious
practice of genealogy; unravelling the knotted realities of
adoption; and pondering DNA testing. This sparkling, sometimes
harrowing read is packed with intriguing interludes, such as
still-speculative findings on the dark-skinned Melungeons of
Appalachia."
"--Nature"
"Genealogy gets a bad rap, author Christine Kenneally writes,
because of its hint of elitism, its whiff of self-absorption, and
its slightly queasy associations with the concepts of breeding and
eugenics. (This view of the project is borne out when she looks at
a Nazi genealogical book, with its list of approved German names
and essays on race hygiene.) But, she argues, wanting to understand
the story of one's ancestors is understandable and human; it just
doesn't go far enough. If there's any overarching theme in this
sprawling, entertaining look at genetics and genealogy, it's that
we are always more than the sum of our biological parts."
--"Boston Globe"
"Sci-en-tists and schol-ars of human-i-ties have sep-a-rately made
remark-able advances in under-stand-ing links between chro-mo-somes
and health -- or race, cul-ture and spe-cific traits, Kenneally
writes. "But DNA does what it does with-out regard to any of the
con-cep-tual silos," and so does she."
"--Misadventures Magazine
""Kenneally's book offers a . . . judicious view of what gets
'passed down' . . . . [She] offers example after example of how the
work of amateur genealogists and professional geneticists is
rewriting history both in academia and the popular
imagination."
--"Salon"
"Shudder, all ye Daughters of the American Revolution, then pick up
a copy of Christine Kenneally's entertaining stew of a book . . .
[T]he title is a mouthful, and the topic turns out to be both
tantalizing and unruly. . . . Kenneally treks through research and
tracks down experts in economics, psychology, history and genetics.
Very pointedly, she crafts a love letter to genealogy. . . .
Kenneally has a gift for explanatory journalism."
--"Newsday"
"In captivating prose . . . Kenneally examines the impact
environment can have both on a person's immediate conditions and
the long-term influences exerted by cultural factors over many
generations. She interviews molecular biologists working to
understand how genes influence physical traits, population
geneticists attempting to reconstruct the genetic configuration of
centuries-old populations, genealogists looking to create family
lineages (as well as the principals of companies promoting such
searches), and those in charge of the Mormon archive of personal
demographic data, the largest of its sort in the world. Kenneally
ties these fascinating strands into a complex, powerful, and
engaging narrative. She superbly compares and contrasts the related
concepts of race and lineage while tackling the ways in which
eugenicists and Nazis misunderstood and misused the data available
to them. With those abuses in mind, she also confronts the premise
that simply making use of such information may be problematic.
Kenneally offers a rich, thoughtful blend of science, social
science, and philosophy in a manner that mixes personal history
with the history of the human species"
--"Publishers Weekly"
"Kenneally, a freelance journalist whose essays have appeared in
the "New Yorker," the "New York Times" and "New Scientist,"
successfully attempts a 'synthesis between the ways we consider
genes and health, genes and culture, genes and history, genes and
race and genes and special traits' . . . . Kenneally illustrates
how the intersection of genetic information with family histories
and census data can engender surprising (and sometimes unsettling)
results--e.g., the identification of a modern American descendant
of Genghis Khan."
--"Kirkus Reviews"
"The word 'brilliant' gets thrown around a lot, but it should be
saved for Christine Kenneally and her book "The Invisible History
of the Human Race." Transcending the nature-nurture dichotomy,
Kenneally shows us how our societies and our selves got to be the
way they are. Don't read this book looking for neat answers--gaze
instead through a glorious kaleidoscope of science, psychology,
history, and first-class storytelling."
--Susan Cain, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Quiet: The
Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking"
"Christine Kenneally's brilliant, ambitious work integrates
cutting-edge genetics with a deeply humanistic perspective on our
personal and communal past. Transcending the usual intellectual
silos, she shows how historical events became inscribed in DNA and
how our ancestry casts riveting shadows onto the future. This
wholly original book will change how you view your parents, your
children, and your own messy, mosaic self."
--Amanda Schaffer, contributor to the "New Yorker" online and
contributing editor at "MIT Technology Review "
"Christine Kenneally vividly traces the astonishing 21st century
progress in the science of who we are. And she never loses sight of
the human stories we tell about our heredity and history, which
constitute us just as much as bits and genes do."
--Jordan Ellenberg, professor of mathematics at the University of
Wisconsin, author of "How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of
Mathematical Thinking "
"Christine Kenneally's sensational book belongs in the backpack of
anyone who wants to explore his or her family's past. Crisply
written and packed with myriad fresh facts and rights, "The
Invisible History" will make the journey down the genealogical
trail a lot richer and more meaningful."
--Sylvia Nasar, author of "Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic
Genius "
"Magnificently rich and sweeping in scope, in impeccable yet
intimate prose."
--Cordelia Fine, ARC Future Fellow in Psychological Sciences and
Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, author of
"Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism
Create Difference "
"What a remarkable tour of the thousands of ways the past shapes
who we are. Christine Kenneally covers everything from Tasmanian
convict records to the absurdly complex genetics of height. By the
end, you'll have changed the way you think about identity, your
name, and all those double helixes in your cells."
--AJ Jacobs, Author of the "Year of Living Biblically "and
organizer of the Global Family Reunion
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