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brookeacacia's review against another edition
2.0
He’s a great writer to make such a dull subject even remotely interesting, but the book was boring overall. Might be great for someone who is thrilled by biology
daumari's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published in 2000 right before the first draft of the human genome was turned in, [b:Genome: the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters|4591|Genome the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters|Matt Ridley|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1362958533s/4591.jpg|1987129] is showing its age (the newer edition published in 2006 might be more current, but the library didn't have it). Still a fascinating book, though- especially as a snapshot of the promised insights that people hoped to glean from reading the genetic code. Alas, genetic cures haven't quite been realized nor is 'junk' DNA as useless as we thought, but man. Progression of time! I also thought the chromosomes-as-chapters idea was interesting, especially bringing up genes related to the topics mentioned for most.
jessicajane's review against another edition
3.0
A well written exploration of human nature through the lens of genetics; Ridley explores a myriad of topics including disease, memory, personality, free will and history by relating them to a relevant gene. In each case, a short history is given and multiple arguments are explored before a conclusion is reached, allowing the reader to appreciate the time and effort that it has taken to reach the understanding that we have today. Written in 1999, some of the information is slightly out of date; this is entirely owed to the success of biological research in the past few two decades. Perhaps inevitably, Ridley is over-reliant upon genetics to explain every aspect of life; while this is an interesting perspective and contains many valid arguments, it oversimplifies complex issues, which is perhaps counter-productive. The explorations of personality and free will are particularly interesting and well-researched, if tainted by the obvious confirmation bias towards everything being explained by the genome.
hailsmanning's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Good and informative, very well written but long. It dragged at parts.
mischievous_monkey's review against another edition
1.0
In the beginning there was the word and it was RNA? Wha? Stop trying to wax poetic about my genome! I tried to slog through this but my brain felt like my legs do when I walk across wet, clay soil and it builds up on the bottom of my shoes as I walk along.
cosmith2015's review against another edition
3.0
This book.. was odd. There were many aspects and chapters I liked and I learned new things. However, the author had an annoying tendency to insert their own beliefs (about things like gender identification, genetically engineering humans, etc) into the book. I only caught it a few times, but it was enough that I nearly put it down. I personally wouldn't mind reading science based books about those topics, but the author would literally have either a paragraph or a few pages dedicated to his beliefs and made it like fact. Furthermore, not every chromosome actually had a gene that he talked about.
Overall, I'd rate it a 2.5 stars. The good chapters were excellent, but some of the chapters were just... cringey
Overall, I'd rate it a 2.5 stars. The good chapters were excellent, but some of the chapters were just... cringey