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tally8967 's review for:
The Gene: An Intimate History
by Siddhartha Mukherjee
informative
slow-paced
I really enjoyed this book, it was my first 500-page book, so I did find it a little difficult partly because of its length. Also at least for my copy the print was very small which made it harder to focus so if you need bigger font it may be something to keep in mind.
I love the first section of the book mainly because of the extra detail that is given about scientists and their famous discoveries. For example, I liked learning about how Darwin potentially skipped over Mendel's study because he doesn't like the style of graphs he used.
If you are more interested in the link between genetics and personality, I would skip to the "through the looking glass section" and start from there. In terms of the writing, I thought it was really good when it came to explaining, but I think mainly people from a scientific background will understand the book. But I think even people with a scientific background that doesn't link to genetics or biology could understand it. I also liked the links to his family history to the informative sections of the book, it never felt out of place.
It's obviously not the most up-to-date book given all the recent news about genetics that couldn't be covered by this book since it's from 2015, but I think it's worth reading, especially if you want a good understanding of the key genetics discoveries of the past.
I love the first section of the book mainly because of the extra detail that is given about scientists and their famous discoveries. For example, I liked learning about how Darwin potentially skipped over Mendel's study because he doesn't like the style of graphs he used.
If you are more interested in the link between genetics and personality, I would skip to the "through the looking glass section" and start from there. In terms of the writing, I thought it was really good when it came to explaining, but I think mainly people from a scientific background will understand the book. But I think even people with a scientific background that doesn't link to genetics or biology could understand it. I also liked the links to his family history to the informative sections of the book, it never felt out of place.
It's obviously not the most up-to-date book given all the recent news about genetics that couldn't be covered by this book since it's from 2015, but I think it's worth reading, especially if you want a good understanding of the key genetics discoveries of the past.
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
The book does mention eugenics movements.