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168 reviews for:
The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
David Epstein
4.11 AVERAGE
168 reviews for:
The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
David Epstein
4.11 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This book faces an uphill challenge from the start. Being a kind of pop science book, it must contend with explaining complex and nuanced scientific topics that often don't have clear answers, all the while presenting it for a generally unscientific audience in such a way that they can enjoy the book and draw conclusions from it. On this front, I found this book remarkably successful. Having a degree in the area gave me some background so I usually wanted more science, but the science presented was all very well packaged, especially with the anecdotes. People respond much more to personal stories than statistics, and Epstein used the personal stories of athletes quite well here.
The overall conclusion of the book is that genes are one small factor that can contribute to one's athletic success, but only in conjunction with hard work, training, and the right circumstances for an athlete to succeed. I really appreciated the final chapter and afterward in this book summarizing this, that the idea of hyper-focusing on genetics isn't worth it, as there are so many other factors one can control. The athletic difference that creates world champions is often found amongst certain groups, but there was a great point that there will always be genetic outliers in every group, so your genetics shouldn't be why you stop trying. This seems to be the best representation of the science; which is that genetics will often be that one or two percent difference, which at the top is huge, but that there are so many other factors that play a role that it is impossible to truly isolate genetics.
The biggest concern when discussing this topic is the elephant in the room is eugenics. The idea that only certain people can be successful in certain areas because of this genetic determinism is a thorny one, and the book does a good job dissuading this. From all the examples, from Jamaican Sprinters to MLB hitters, Kenyan Distance Runners to the Nordic Skiers, the genetics of those groups have been influenced by their environment to some extent, yes, but the cultures that surround the sports is more important, such as Jamaica's high school sprinting development. Genetics is only one small part of the puzzle, and it is truly impossible to isolate the impact of genetics alone.
This was a quite enjoyable read, especially reading it during the Olympics this year. While the concept was not new to me, I enjoyed a lot of the specific examples. For example, the idea that the sickle cell gene was influenced by the prevalence of malaria, which then conferred certain athletics benefits, or that a certain altitude sweet spot that promotes the physiological changes best for distance running are all fascinating topics that I'd love to read more about. 4.0 stars.
The overall conclusion of the book is that genes are one small factor that can contribute to one's athletic success, but only in conjunction with hard work, training, and the right circumstances for an athlete to succeed. I really appreciated the final chapter and afterward in this book summarizing this, that the idea of hyper-focusing on genetics isn't worth it, as there are so many other factors one can control. The athletic difference that creates world champions is often found amongst certain groups, but there was a great point that there will always be genetic outliers in every group, so your genetics shouldn't be why you stop trying. This seems to be the best representation of the science; which is that genetics will often be that one or two percent difference, which at the top is huge, but that there are so many other factors that play a role that it is impossible to truly isolate genetics.
The biggest concern when discussing this topic is the elephant in the room is eugenics. The idea that only certain people can be successful in certain areas because of this genetic determinism is a thorny one, and the book does a good job dissuading this. From all the examples, from Jamaican Sprinters to MLB hitters, Kenyan Distance Runners to the Nordic Skiers, the genetics of those groups have been influenced by their environment to some extent, yes, but the cultures that surround the sports is more important, such as Jamaica's high school sprinting development. Genetics is only one small part of the puzzle, and it is truly impossible to isolate the impact of genetics alone.
This was a quite enjoyable read, especially reading it during the Olympics this year. While the concept was not new to me, I enjoyed a lot of the specific examples. For example, the idea that the sickle cell gene was influenced by the prevalence of malaria, which then conferred certain athletics benefits, or that a certain altitude sweet spot that promotes the physiological changes best for distance running are all fascinating topics that I'd love to read more about. 4.0 stars.
C’était intéressant, mais tred théorique comme lecture. J’ai perdu l’intérêt initial que j’avais de lire ce livre.
An excellent book covering impact and information about genetics and sports performance. Solidly researched and lots of sources and references. If you are interested in sports, human performance, nature versus nurture I recommend this book.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
A very interesting look at how genetics and globalization have shaped sports performance over the past century.
I will say though, that a large portion of the takeaways from this book can be seen in the Ted talk that the author gave a few years ago.
I will say though, that a large portion of the takeaways from this book can be seen in the Ted talk that the author gave a few years ago.
3.5 again, I am not the intended audience. I enjoyed the science and stories combining extraordinary athletes and the research that has gone into finding out why they are extraordinary.
Even though I have read much of this material before in other places, sports is something I like to geek out about, and it was an interesting contrast to other books I have read about the "10,000 hour rule."
This was maybe not the book for me. I don't have a problem with the writing, or the content per se. Well, maybe the content. So, spoiler alert, there is no sports gene and thus this book was really just many anecdotes about high performing sports legends. So if you're into that kind of thing, have at it.