How to Interpret Your DNA Test Results For Family History & Ancestry: Scientists Speak Out on Genealogy Joining Genetics [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

The title of this book is grossly misleading and in fact barely one page in 10 makes reference to legitimate scientific data--or even to the scientists who supposedly "speak out". Her research was poorly conducted and even more poorly analyzed. She spends several chapters on topics which have no business being including in this book--namely, "creating a scrapbook" (where one sentence out of pages of text refers to DNA), and "beginning genealogy research." In the latter, she repeatedly does those readers who haven't done any genealogy reserach, a great disservice by misdirecting them on methods of locating a woman's maiden name. She suggests ordering birth records. How, pray tell, does one order a birth record for a person whose maiden name is unknown?! Ask the county clerk for copies of every record of a child born on a given date? Please!

While I applaud the use of the Internet as a means of self-publishing, one should not use it as a shortcut around publishing in a professional manner. Within the first seven pages of text, I found a dozen errors (typographical, spelling, grammar, and punctuation), which even a blind (but not deaf) editor would catch. Ms. Hart's writing style leads one to believe she published the book as it was first written--a draft version in which no thought was given to logical chapter order (definitions and explanations of DNA and genes can be found somewhere around page 110). She spends five pages telling you, disjointedly, four different times how she was beaten up on a train just for her "ethnic appearance"--uh, why would readers care? We DON'T!

Please, do not ... [buy] this book. There is so little of value in it, and very little of use from the actual scientists, for whom I have the greatest respect. Instead, buy a book written by the actual scientists themselves--or at least someone with scientific credentials. Ms. Hart graciously states at one point that, "being 61 years old, I had choice of either spending my days crocheting at the senior center, or writing a book about DNA." She writes DNA detective stories--again self-published through iUniverse press. I'm sorry, but that's certainly not enough credentials for me! I plan to ask [Amazon.com] for refund.