Title: A weak imitation
Review: It is conventional wisdom that good books are written by good writers, and that understanding of the subject is of secondary importance. This book is a disproof of that conventional wisdom.Mr. Olson is a fine writer, but he is not a scientist. Within the first 50 pages he has spent 2 pages on an incorrect explanation of an important genetic concept.Give me instead the real McCoy: Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza is a scientist with true insight. His book, "Genes, Peoples, and Languages" is beautifully inspired. He truly understands what he is writing about; and the most interesting elements of Mr. Olson's book are better handled in (if not derived from) Dr. Cavalli-Sforza's book.Mr. Olson, by contrast, is a layman who doesn't quite comprehend that about which he writes. He is the blind leading the blind; and most of his readers don't know the difference, apparently including the nominating committee for the National Book Award.
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