Synopsis
This text attempts to refute suggestions that genetics "prove"
biological determinism, arguing instead that free will itself is in the
genes. It proposes that everything that makes us human can be read in our
genes and considers the 21st century, when the entire human genome will be
mapped out.
About the Author
Matt Ridley's 23 chromosomes (above), together with a PhD degree from
Oxford University, equipped him for a career as a science journalist with
The Economist and the Daily Telegraph. His books include The Red Queen and
The Origins of Virtue. He is chairman of the International Centre for
Life, Newcastle-upon-Tyne's project to greet the millennium with a science
park and visitor centre devoted to life science. He has ingeniously
combined his chromosomes with those of his wife, the neuroscientist Dr
Anya Hurlbert, to produce two entirely new human beings.
Review by R Chang
This is a smashing good read. A most timely book to equip one to
have an understanding of what is actually happening and to get the
substance through the hype. Better to understand the current debate
about cloning and the nature/nurture issues.
