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Riku Sayuj's Reviews > The Gene: An Intimate History
The Gene: An Intimate History
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Riku Sayuj's review
bookshelves: science-gen, genetics, pop-science, insti-crit, medicine
Jun 06, 2017
bookshelves: science-gen, genetics, pop-science, insti-crit, medicine
Not half as good a narrative as The Emperor of All Maladies, but still a good account of the Gene's journey and where it is going. It will hold your attention even if you have read multiple accounts of the progress of Genetics such as Watson's, because most histories of the Gene focus on the Genome project or on the early phase of discovery of genetics, Mukherjee instead focuses on the applications that are currently ongoing and how those fields have developed.
My only complaint: the focus of the book is on the Human Gene and hence on Medicine, while the story of the Gene is surely about much more than medicine - extending to Food, Evolution, Economics and perhaps Politics - the Gene has a very wide role to play in our future and we need to develop perspective on that future today. Mukherjee gives a glimpse of where Medicine is going, but perhaps could also have shown us where We are going.
My only complaint: the focus of the book is on the Human Gene and hence on Medicine, while the story of the Gene is surely about much more than medicine - extending to Food, Evolution, Economics and perhaps Politics - the Gene has a very wide role to play in our future and we need to develop perspective on that future today. Mukherjee gives a glimpse of where Medicine is going, but perhaps could also have shown us where We are going.
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Reading Progress
May 16, 2017
–
Started Reading
May 31, 2017
– Shelved
June 6, 2017
– Shelved as:
science-gen
June 6, 2017
– Shelved as:
genetics
June 6, 2017
– Shelved as:
pop-science
June 6, 2017
– Shelved as:
insti-crit
June 6, 2017
– Shelved as:
medicine
June 6, 2017
–
Finished Reading
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Ted
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Jun 06, 2017 11:03AM
My wife's reading this now.
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I loved the book but he missed some points when he talked about epigenetics. He has been criticized for that by leading scientists. This was the first book I read of Mukharjee. It`s fascinating,interesting and gripping. It`s narrative is almost like a thriller. Mukharjee has a gift of conveying complex scientific ideas in simple layman`s language. I`m certainly going to order the Emperor of all Maladies soon. I kinda felt the same feeling reading his book as I felt reading Dawkins, Hawking and Sagan!
Nerdfighter wrote: "I loved the book but he missed some points when he talked about epigenetics. He has been criticized for that by leading scientists. This was the first book I read of Mukharjee. It`s fascinating,int..."Try out Emperor - it is much better :) I agree about the style, it is captivating!
Ted wrote: "My wife's reading this now."Is she on gr?
Riku wrote: "Ted wrote: "My wife's reading this now."Is she on gr?"
Well, not really. She has an account, but hardly ever logs on. Too busy volunteering etc. (view spoiler) She does read quite a bit, but mostly newspapers and her iPhone.
Ted wrote: "Riku wrote: "Ted wrote: "My wife's reading this now."Is she on gr?"
Well, not really. She has an account, but hardly ever logs on. Too busy volunteering etc. [spoilers removed] She does read qui..."
Pity :(
I agree with your complaint. Mukherjee should have instead used a different title for the book and used the word "gene" as a subtitle like what he did for the word "cancer" in Emperor of Maladies.
Aminoddin wrote: "I agree with your complaint. Mukherjee should have instead used a different title for the book and used the word "gene" as a subtitle like what he did for the word "cancer" in Emperor of Maladies."Indeed
