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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
Very solid book - I think that I lost a little interest in some of the political/business drama.
A really interesting look at the Doudna and Cripr. Parts of the "credit battle" got a little slow, but I loved the look at Doudna individually, and the discussions of the ethical implications were really thought provoking. I did thing Isaacson was a little overly optimistic in his conclusions about the changes to science that can/will come from the COVID esperience (especially in light of Moderna's current level of profiteering), but it was certainly food for thought.
challenging
informative
honestly really phenomenal. the book does feel a bit long, but isaacson did a fantastic job of organizing it. there were so many different people that i might have gotten really lost, but order in which he introduced everyone and talked about the individual discoveries and then the questions about what come next made it such that i could follow along without a problem. at first, i wasn’t thrilled with the long section on covid (i am just a bit tired of hearing about it), but he tied it into the narrative running through this book really well without making it seem overblown despite having finished the book in 2020.
Despite the title, this book actually highlights the numerous international scientists involved in the discovery of gene editing. Which is pretty cool when you think about it. Too often in the past, discoveries have only been attributed to a small minority of scientists (usually white males) so it was great to see women represented!
If PBS were to produce a reality show about scientists, it might turn out like this. I suspect Isaacson has focused on the human drama for its popular appeal, but also for what it says about the history of science. This isn't to dismiss the importance of competition and the effect of egotism on the progess of human achievement, but it's unsightly, and for this reader, quite boring. The science is explained in terms shallow enough that careful readers will be able talk about what they don't understand, as are the ethical implications, and all told, this might be a good thing. It's a start at least. The science is hard to understand. People are hard to understand. But I'm not sure that this best-selling simplification is the solution.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
It took me a while to get into it but at about 10 hours to go it really gripped me and I loved it!
slow-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced