glassdanse's review against another edition

Go to review page

I know it has been a hot minute since I took any kind of bio class, but the science in this book is just utter bunk. I used “molecular biology of the cell” (5th ed.) by alberts et al as a reference text to make sure I wasn't just misinterpreting what he was writing. at best, wolynn's writing on dna, heritability, and epigenetics is just really poor but I think I'm being generous here.

the name rachel yehuda rang some bells, and I think it was because I had read something on a 2015 study she did. it looked at approx 30 holocaust survivors, and approx 20 post-war descendants. you do not need to be a statistical wizard to understand that to make large scale claims off of such a tiny study is a major flaw of any study, to say nothing of how epigenetic changes across generations should not be studied in parent / child sets so even the methodology has cause for concern. I believe this study only looked at a small number of genes too, further adding to the statistical muddiness. epigenetic trauma proponents also fail to explain the actual mechanisms such a process would use or how this all fits into the current understanding

I mention so much since the scientific hypothesis of this book seems to hinge so much of itself on yehuda's work, although it fails to mention any of the criticisms laid against her work, nor does it offer any alternative view points.

plus, this study does not work to separate out the influence of family or cultural stories, and experiences, or other health conditions. that's just sloppy. sister studies (by other scientists) come with similar problems.

there were other serious problems in the few pages I read, but this was the most glaring.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tdubs15's review against another edition

Go to review page

While I understand the general premise and message of the book, it was a little disheartening to see that a lot of people who have s**cidal thoughts/ideation magically didn't feel that way when they realized that someone in their past actually felt that way. I thought the past would be acknowledged and validated but that there would be coping mechanisms and advice given to help. Instead, it felt more like a series of short stories/anecdotes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...