Carl Zimmer

Amazing. I'd read The Gene: an Intimate History by Mukherjee and Genome: an autobiography of a species in 23 chapters, by Matt Ridley, so I was familiar with some of the things discussed in this book, but there were still things I hadn't encountered. at over 500 pages it is a fairly hefty book , and thorough, but not exhaustive. I found myself looking for more information on tantalizing stories he'd briefly mentioned. It is an overview, really, with good science anchored by human stories and welll worth a read. The mother who delivers a baby and a genetic test in the delivery room says it isn't hers, the parents who lose their daughter in a car accident and harvest her eggs, the mosquito altered by man and able to pass those alterations on through wild mosquitoes. If these stories sound intriguing, give this book a try, you won't be disappointed… (more)