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She has her mother's laugh
Paperback
€17.99
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- Book Synopsis
- SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION She Has Her Mother's Laugh presents a profoundly original perspective on what we pass along from generation to generation. Charles Darwin played a crucial part in turning heredity into a scientific question, and yet he failed spectacularly to answer it. The birth of genetics in the early 1900s seemed to do precisely that. Gradually, people translated their old notions about heredity into a language of genes. As the technology for studying genes became cheaper, millions of people ordered genetic tests to link themselves to missing parents, to distant ancestors, to ethnic identities . . . But, award-winning science writer Carl Zimmer argues, heredity isn't just about genes that pass from parent to child. Heredity continues within our own bodies, as a single cell gives rise to trillions of cells that make up our bodies. We say we inherit genes from our ancestors but we inherit other things that matter as much or more to our lives, from microbes to technologies we use to make life more comfortable. We need a new definition of what heredity is and, through Carl Zimmer's lucid exposition and storytelling, this resounding tour de force delivers it. Weaving together historical and current scientific research, his own experience with his two daughters, and the kind of original reporting expected of one of the world's best science journalists, Zimmer ultimately unpacks urgent bioethical quandaries arising from new biomedical technologies, but also long-standing presumptions about who we really are and what we can pass on to future generations.
- About The Author
- Carl Zimmer writes the "Origins" column for The New York Times and has frequently contributed to The Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, and Scientific American. His journalism has earned numerous awards, including ones from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering. Zimmer is professor adjunct at Yale, where he teaches writing. He is the author of numerous books about science, including She Has Her Mother's Laugh, which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, and Air-Borne.
- Product Details
-
- ISBN
- 9781509818556
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Picador, (12 June 2019)
- Number of Pages
- 672
- Weight
- 460 grams
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 199 x 133 x 42 mm
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