Neanderthal Man cover art

Neanderthal Man

In Search of Lost Genomes

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Neanderthal Man

By: Svante Pääbo
Narrated by: Dennis Holland
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

A preeminent geneticist hunts the Neanderthal genome to answer the biggest question of them all: What does it mean to be human?

What can we learn from the genes of our closest evolutionary relatives? Neanderthal Man tells the story of geneticist Svante Pbo’s mission to answer that question, beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in his sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2009. From Pbo, we learn how Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our hominin relatives and may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct. Drawing on genetic and fossil clues, Pbo explores what is known about the origin of modern humans and their relationship to the Neanderthals and describes the fierce debate surrounding the nature of the two species’ interactions.

A riveting story about a visionary researcher and the nature of scientific inquiry, Neanderthal Man offers rich insight into the fundamental question of who we are.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2014 Svante Pääbo (P)2014 Audible Inc. Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Environment Evolution Evolution & Genetics Genetics Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology Paleontology

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Madness and Memory cover art
Fossil Men cover art
A Story of Us cover art
The Dawn of Language cover art
Kindred cover art
Ancient Bones cover art
Lucy cover art
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being cover art
Cave of Bones cover art
The Neanderthals Rediscovered cover art
A Brief History of Creation cover art
Buried cover art
Bring Back the King cover art
The Selfish Gene cover art
Darwin Devolves cover art
The Clockwork Universe cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
A great read, no popular science book I've read has had such close attention paid to practicalities

Fantastic story of a real scientist

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s fascinating to follow the development of such a carrer/project from beginning to « end ».
The scientific subject is thoroughly discussed but the practical aspects of the project development are given equal attention.
The book is able to successfully switch between the general chronological narrative and the theoretical and technical subjects while keeping a sense of excitement and anticipation thanks to its autobiographic style. Although at times intimate details about the author’s personnal life were superfluous in my opinion.
The narration was excellent.

Equally scientific and autobiographical

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is such an amazing story but such a shame that the publishers couldn’t find someone who could pronounce some technical terms correctly. It’s quaternary NOT quarternary. A couple of similar gaffs spoiled the flow of an excellent story.

Amazing story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What made the experience of listening to Neanderthal Man the most enjoyable?

Pääbo is not only brilliant but funny and I have listened to the book twice in the last day and looked through the paper book again. This book taught me a lot and even made me laugh a fair amount.

What does Dennis Holland bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

It was great to get to listen to the book also since I could write a report on the subject at the same time as refresh my knowledge on the subject. Really nice to be able to do other things, like eat Nutella and think, while learning more also.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

twice. I didn't even sleep.

Any additional comments?

You just can't help getting obsessed with this subject. You just want to learn more and more.

the best book ever!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great insight into the trials and tribulations of peacing togetger the genetic story we share with our big brained, successful and ultimately enigmatic ancestors .

Human endevour behind Neathandal science.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read this after it was recommended to my daughter at a university presentation about studying anthropology and was so impressed I wanted to find out more. I’ve always been fascinated by prehistoric history and while I don’t have a good understanding of biology, it was written so well that I could access the ideas. The author is generous in his acknowledgment of others’ contributions and I enjoyed the personal touches which I felt gave the narrative a holistic human perspective.

Fascinating!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is fascinating but was probably not the best book for me in this area. It is a very detailed and well written account of the science behind the understanding of the Neanderthal genetic code and also an interesting autobiography of the scientist who lead the work. My level of understanding in this area is A level Biology followed by a zoology degree, admittedly 30 years ago, and I was often at full stretch to try to keep up with the arguments presented here. For me an abridged version would have worked better but if you want to get the complete picture and have the scientific knowledge to understand it you'll find all you could wish for here. The narrator is well matched to this type of material.

Fascinating - very in depth account

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although it seems strange to put an American narrator to speak for a Sweden author; the intonation, silences, we're perfect. I loved the narrator's voice! The story is a fascinating inside to the life of a scientist in love with what he does.

Fascinating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Such a cool way to tell the discovery of how the the scientific community has worked and progressed in discovering the history of the Neanderthals and us.

Book with great storytelling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Precise and technical account marred by the authors ego and desire to include aspects of his personal life and sexuality which were irrelevant . This significance and scope of his scientific endeavour overcomes this I am glad that I persevered with this account I respected the work this team undertook .

Tedious but excellent science

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.