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She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Story of Heredity, Its Past, Present and Future by Carl Zimmer
marie_reads_books's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
kmanderson42's review against another edition
5.0
2023 EDIT: If you are reading this, then you may be fact-checking an essay I wrote! If that sounds like you, Hello!!! This is improbable, but I figured I should leave a message anyway!
This book has been my companion for a little over a year now. I know, I know that's an incredibly long time to be reading a book of this size, but I have a terrible habit of picking up seven books and trying to read them all at once. But in a strange way, I am glad that I spent so much time with this book. It has traveled across the country with me, It has brought me joy with its intelligent narration, and it has pulled me out of many dark moments with its sweeping tales of scientific wonder and horror. Now that I have finished this book, I see the world with eyes that are different from the ones I had when I picked it up. Suddenly, the world is a beautiful web of connections. I now seem larger in my complexity, but made smaller, too, in my similarity to every living thing that surrounds me. But that smallness does not make me feel weak, instead, it allows me to feel the wonder and strength of being part of something so grand and beautiful, Earth. And this is what a good scientific novel should do. It should show you how complicated and beautiful the world is beyond the lens of the day-to-day. I rest my case.
This book has been my companion for a little over a year now. I know, I know that's an incredibly long time to be reading a book of this size, but I have a terrible habit of picking up seven books and trying to read them all at once. But in a strange way, I am glad that I spent so much time with this book. It has traveled across the country with me, It has brought me joy with its intelligent narration, and it has pulled me out of many dark moments with its sweeping tales of scientific wonder and horror. Now that I have finished this book, I see the world with eyes that are different from the ones I had when I picked it up. Suddenly, the world is a beautiful web of connections. I now seem larger in my complexity, but made smaller, too, in my similarity to every living thing that surrounds me. But that smallness does not make me feel weak, instead, it allows me to feel the wonder and strength of being part of something so grand and beautiful, Earth. And this is what a good scientific novel should do. It should show you how complicated and beautiful the world is beyond the lens of the day-to-day. I rest my case.
tempamatic's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fascinating book, but it needed a closer edit. Some of it was repetitive and the book was way too long. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
case2489's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.0
A very well curated account of genetics and heredity that’s approachable for people with limited background in biology.
gijs's review against another edition
4.0
Comprehensive, well-informed, science is sound; this popular-scientific book on genetics delivers magnificently; a worthwhile read/listen.
davidsteinsaltz's review against another edition
5.0
I wouldn't have thought so many disparate topics could be assembled under the general theme of "heredity", but the selection seemed sensible, and it really did contribute to the overall understanding of the science, the history, and the social import. The account of narrow-sense heritability was about the best I've seen in a nontechnical setting, for debunking common misrepresentations.
whichthreewords's review against another edition
5.0
Really well done, and very readable. Excellent science writing.
rednivar's review against another edition
4.0
The author describes heredity in a really broad way. From the genetics that we have uncovered to the cultural aspects and everything in between.
There are parts where I really enjoyed the book, but there were also a lot of parts where I felt the author could get more to the point. I noticed that all chapter were around 30 pages long (in the ebook version that I had) and that really made me suspect that the author deliberately tried to make some chapters longer then they needed to be.
All in all I still liked the book because I learned a lot about the history of genetics and the cultural aspects we relate to it. I would recommend this book to people who also want to read about genetics and are still fairly new to this subject.
I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.
There are parts where I really enjoyed the book, but there were also a lot of parts where I felt the author could get more to the point. I noticed that all chapter were around 30 pages long (in the ebook version that I had) and that really made me suspect that the author deliberately tried to make some chapters longer then they needed to be.
All in all I still liked the book because I learned a lot about the history of genetics and the cultural aspects we relate to it. I would recommend this book to people who also want to read about genetics and are still fairly new to this subject.
I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.