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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
dark
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book is meant perhaps for someone in genetics or studying the mutations of humanity. While interesting, someone not involved in biology so deeply like myself found the book not to be a page turner. It was a slow read. The author was great about explaining things nevertheless, I just didn’t have a deep interest in the subject.
challenging
funny
informative
slow-paced
This is quite an interesting book. I do appreciate Leroi's ability to make complex ideas accessible without watering them down beyond use. Not only that, he's got a dry English wit that's not superfluous, but comes out often enought.
It's hard to separate some things this book is lacking from its age. This book was released in 2003, far before any large-scale discourse on transgender/agender identity occured. So maybe his discussion on gender is forgivable in the blindspot it leaves for dysmorphia. That being said, I am intrigued to see how the genetics he discussed fits in with the conversation.
I enjoyed this book. And I hope I retained at least 75% of what I just read.
It's hard to separate some things this book is lacking from its age. This book was released in 2003, far before any large-scale discourse on transgender/agender identity occured. So maybe his discussion on gender is forgivable in the blindspot it leaves for dysmorphia. That being said, I am intrigued to see how the genetics he discussed fits in with the conversation.
I enjoyed this book. And I hope I retained at least 75% of what I just read.
informative
medium-paced
Mutants is a study of many of the ways the human body can grow or develop differently. The book is fascinating, and there are some very well-chosen pictures (although I would have liked more pictures, given the wealth of conditions he discusses in the book, some of which can be difficult to visualize in one's head), but it has a tendency to become overly scientific - the age-old problem of authors not being able to commit to one audience, and trying to write for laypeople and scientists alike. The discussions of gene sequences, etc., can become tiresome, but they are always mercifully short. Overall a fascinating book, but more of a survey than an in-depth study.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
An easy read on the wonders of human genetics and development.
Life truly is remarkable, and evolutionary developmental biology is a very fascinating field.
The book is mostly neutral and scientific. If you are not interested in the biological background but rather in social implementations, look somewhere else.
Life truly is remarkable, and evolutionary developmental biology is a very fascinating field.
The book is mostly neutral and scientific. If you are not interested in the biological background but rather in social implementations, look somewhere else.
challenging
There is a lot of truly fascinating information here about embryology and genetics, and some of the examples of the "mutants " of the past are exceptionally well done. I was expecting more story and less scientific paper, which is why I'm only rating it three stars, for being a bit dense to read in some parts. (I rate myself no slouch in the science department, so if I say it's dense, I really mean it.) But I have to be clear that it's a great piece of work on this topic and well worth the effort.
I took biology in high school, and just recently read a book on DNA and genes and such. Without those two things, this book would have been a jumble of scientific terms with a few anecdotes mixed in. As it was, I still didn't understand about 25% of the scientific specifics, but I muddled through.