2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist“Science book of the year”—The GuardianOne of New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2018One of Publishers Weekly’s Top Ten Books of 2018One of Kirkus’s Best Books of 2018 One of Mental Floss’s Best Books of 2018One of Science Friday’s Best Science Books of 2018“Extraordinary”—New York Times Book Review “Magisterial”—The Atlantic… of 2018
“Extraordinary”—New York Times Book Review
“Magisterial”—The Atlantic
“Engrossing”—Wired
“Leading contender as the most outstanding nonfiction work of the year”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Celebrated New York Times columnist and science writer Carl Zimmer 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, Zimmer writes, “Each of us carries an amalgam of fragments of DNA, stitched together from some of our many ancestors. Each piece has its own ancestry, traveling a different path back through human history. A particular fragment may sometimes be cause for worry, but most of our DNA influences who we are—our appearance, our height, our penchants—in inconceivably subtle ways.” 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—using a word that once referred to kingdoms and estates—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 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.
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Carl Zimmer is not only among my favorite science writers — he’s also now responsible for making me wonder why there is more Neanderthal DNA on earth right now than when Neanderthals were here, and why humanity is getting taller and smarter in the last few generations. She Has Her Mother’s Laugh explains how our emerging understanding of genetics is touching almost every part of society, and will increasingly touch our lives.
Zimmer is a born story-teller. Or is he an inherited story-teller? The inspiring and heartbreaking stories in She Has Her Mother’s Laugh build a fundamentally new perspective on what previous generations have delivered to us, and what we can pass along. An outstanding book and great accomplishment.
She Has Her Mother’s Laugh is at once far-ranging, imaginative, and totally relevant. Carl Zimmer makes the complex science of heredity read like a novel, and explains why the subject has been — and always will be — so vexed.
Carl Zimmer lifts off the lid, dumps out the contents, and sorts through the pieces of one of history’s most problematic ideas: heredity. Deftly touching on psychology, genetics, race, and politics, She Has Her Mother’s Laugh is a superb guide to a subject that is only becoming more important. Along the way, it explains some remarkably complicated science with equally remarkable clarity — a totally impressive job all around.
How every characteristic — from genes to personality — is passed down from one generation to the next is one the most fundamental, complex, misunderstood and misused enigmas of biology. In this beautifully written, heartfelt and enjoyable masterpiece, Zimmer weaves together history, autobiography and science to elucidate the mysteries of heredity and why we should care. I couldn’t put this book down, and can’t recommend it too highly.
She Has Her Mother’s Laugh is at once enlightening and utterly compelling. Carl Zimmer weaves spellbinding narrative with luminous science writing to give us the story of heredity, the story of us all. Anyone interested in where we came from and where we are going — which is to say everyone — will want to read it.
Traversing time and societies, the personal and the political, the moral and the scientific, She Has Her Mother’s Laugh takes readers on an endlessly mesmerizing journey of what it means to be human. Carl Zimmer has created a brilliant canvas of life that is at times hopeful, at times horrifying, and always beautifully rendered. I could hope for no better guide into the complexities, perils, and, ultimately, potential of what the science of heredity has in store for the world.
With his latest work, Zimmer has assured his place as one of the greatest science writers of our time. She Has Her Mother’s Laugh is an extraordinary exploration of a topic that is at once familiar and foreign, and touches every one of us. With the eloquence of a poet and the expertise of a scientist Zimmer has created a nonfiction thriller that will change the way you think about your family, those you love, and the past and future.
Excellent review of the entire history of genetics.
This book takes a daunting topic and makes it coherent and enjoyable. Genetics will become and increasingly important aspect of health and medicine in the coming years. This book is a wonderful primer for preparing people for that eventuality.
No one unravels the mysteries of science as brilliantly and compellingly as Carl Zimmer, and he has proven it again with She Has Her Mother’s Laugh — a sweeping, magisterial book that illuminates the very nature of who we are.
Science writer Carl Zimmer has long been a favorite author and this book is fascinating. It combines a history of genetics and the often horrendous misinterpretations of heredity, such as eugenics, with insights into newer discoveries. Some I’d heard of, such as chimeras and three-parent embryos, but not with such detail. The depth of Zimmer’s research and understanding is impressive. Since my novels often deal with cutting-edge medical developments affecting conception and child-bearing, I found this book both useful and absorbing.
Genetics textbook
Well written and engaging, such that it holds your interest even when dealing with relatively complex subjects. There is enough science to satisfy most people(with possible exception of geneticists)and yet it is understandable by those with a limited acquaintance with genetics and DNA. Having said that, my medical background and interest in both paleontology and ancient DNA certainly enhanced my enjoyment of this book.
More scientific than I had thought. Good basis for understanding the history of genetics.
This was a sad book in my opinion. It might be informative to many people about children born with severe handicaps. The title, however, does not fit the content–at least in the early part. I did not finish the book.
Humans have long noticed something remarkable, namely that organisms are similar but not identical to their parents — in other words, that some traits can be inherited. From this observation has grown the elegant science of genetics, with its dazzling medical breakthroughs. And from this has also grown the toxic pseudosciences of eugenics, Lysenkoism and Nazi racial ideology. Carl Zimmer traces the intertwined histories of the science and pseudoscience of heredity. Zimmer writes like a dream, teaches a ton of accessible science, and provides the often intensely moving stories of the people whose lives have been saved or destroyed by this topic. I loved this book.
Nobody writes about science better than Carl Zimmer. As entertaining as he is informative, he has a way of turning the discoveries of science into deeply moving human stories. This book is a timely account of the uses and misuses of some of the science that directly impact our lives today. It is also a career moment by one of our most important and graceful writers. Here is a book to be savored.
reads like a text book
It was like reading a text book.