How did an obscure academic idea pave the way to the Holocaust within just fifty years?
Why does eugenics still loom large in the 21st century, despite its genocidal past?
Did eugenics work? Could it work? Or was it always a pseudoscientific fantasy?
Throughout history, people have sought to reduce suffering, eliminate disease and enhance desirable qualities in their children. In the Victorian era eugenics, a full-blooded attempt to impose control over unruly biology, began to grow among the powerful and quickly spread to dozens of countries around the world. But these ideas are not merely historical: today, with new gene editing techniques, conversations are happening about tinkering with the DNA of our unborn children to make them smarter, fitter, stronger. Deeply steeped in contemporary genetics, CONTROL offers a vital account of one of the defining - and most destructive - ideas of the twentieth century.
'A brilliant, authoritative, surprising, captivating introduction to human genetics. You'll be spellbound' Brian Cox
This is a story about you.
It is the history of who you are and how you came to be. It is unique to you, as it is to each of the 100 billion modern humans who have ever drawn breath. But it is also our collective story, because in every one of our genomes we each carry the history of our species - births, deaths, disease, war, famine, migration and a lot of sex.
In this captivating journey through the expanding landscape of genetics, Adam Rutherford reveals what our genes now tell us about human history, and what history can now tell us about our genes. From Neanderthals to murder, from redheads to race, dead kings to plague, evolution to epigenetics, this is a demystifying and illuminating new portrait of who we are and how we came to be.
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'A thoroughly entertaining history of Homo sapiens and its DNA in a manner that displays popular science writing at its best' Observer
'Magisterial, informative and delightful' Peter Frankopan
'An extraordinary adventure...From the Neanderthals to the Vikings, from the Queen of Sheba to Richard III, Rutherford goes in search of our ancestors, tracing the genetic clues deep into the past' Alice Roberts
Vor etwa 45.000 Jahren haben wir Menschen uns mit der Schaffung von Kultur, Werkzeugen, Symbolik und Kunst von unseren Vorfahren und Ursprüngen entfernt. Diese "kognitive Revolution" gab uns das Gefühl, dass wir etwas Besonderes sind. Schriftsteller, Wissenschaftler, Philosophen und Religionen staunen seit Jahrtausenden über unsere Brillanz. Dennoch sind wir mit dem Rest der Natur durch Gene, Anatomie und Physiologie verbunden und in einer gemeinsamen Evolution verwurzelt. Alle Arten sind einzigartig, aber sind wir einzigartiger als andere Tiere?
Diese Frage geht an die Wurzel dessen, was wir sind. Doch viele wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse haben im Laufe der Zeit Zweifel an der Sonderstellung des Menschen aufkommen lassen. Dinge, die wir einst als einzigartig menschlich betrachtet haben, sind es nicht. Wir sind nicht die einzige Spezies, die z.B. Pläne für die Zukunft schmiedet, vergangene Entscheidungen bereut, um verlorene Leben trauert und Sex aus anderen Gründen als derZeugung von Nachkommen hat.
Dieses Buch ist ein wichtiges Manifest für das Verständnis der menschlichen Evolution und Variation im 21. Jahrhundert. Es leistet einen bedeutenden Beitrag zur aktuellen Diskussion über die Rasse. Klischees und Mythen über Rassen werden nicht nur von offenkundigen Rassisten zum Ausdruck gebracht. Auch gut meinende Menschen vertreten durch ihren kulturellen Erfahrungshorizont Ansichten, die nicht durch die moderne Humangenetik gestützt werden. Sogar der wissenschaftliche Rassismus greift zunehmend um sich und beeinflusst den ffentlichen Diskurs über Politik, Migration, Bildung, Sport und Intelligenz. Der Leser bekommt Argumente an die Hand, um dem entgegen zu treten. Adam Rutherford zeigt, dass die moderne Humangenetik ein mächtiger Verbündeter gegen Rassismus sein kann. Sie zeigt, wie Menschen tatsächlich sind, und nicht, wie sie von der Gesellschaft gesehen werden.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Nobody deals with challenging subjects more interestingly and compellingly than Adam Rutherford, and this may be his best book yet. This is a seriously important work' BILL BRYSON
'A fascinating and timely refutation of the casual racism on the rise around the world. The ultimate anti-racism guide for data-lovers everywhere' CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ
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Race is real because we perceive it. Racism is real because we enact it. But the appeal to science to strengthen racist ideologies is on the rise - and increasingly part of the public discourse on politics, migration, education, sport and intelligence. Stereotypes and myths about race are expressed not just by overt racists, but also by well-intentioned people whose experience and cultural baggage steer them towards views that are not supported by the modern study of human genetics. Even some scientists are uncomfortable expressing opinions deriving from their research where it relates to race. Yet, if understood correctly, science and history can be powerful allies against racism, granting the clearest view of how people actually are, rather than how we judge them to be.
HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST is a vital manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation, and a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify bigotry.
*FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED and HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST*
WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?
Waging war?
Sex for pleasure?
Creating art?
Mastery of fire?
In this thrilling tour of the animal kingdom, Adam Rutherford tells the story of how we became the unique creatures we are today. Illuminated by the latest scientific discoveries, THE BOOK OF HUMANS is a dazzling compendium of what unequivocally fixes us as animals, and reveals how we are extraordinary among them.
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'Adam Rutherford is a superb communicator, who eruditely explores the borderlands of history, archaeology, genetics and anthropology in this fascinating tour of our species' DAN SNOW
'This superbly accessible discussion about who we humans really are is important and necessary' CHRIS PACKHAM
'Charming, compelling and packed with information. I learned more about biology from this short book than I did from years of science lessons' PETER FRANKOPAN
'An outstandingly clear and witty account that shows beyond doubt how much we are part of the animal world, and yet at the same time how different we have become' HENRY MARSH
C'est votre histoire. C'est l'histoire de l'individu que vous êtes et de la manière dont vous êtes arrivé sur terre. Votre histoire est unique, tout comme est celle de chacun des 100 milliards d'êtres humains de l'ère moderne ayant vécu sur notre planète.
Mais c'est également notre histoire collective, car dans chacun de nos génomes se trouve l'histoire de notre espèce - naissances, morts, maladies, guerre, famine, migration... et plein d'histoires de sexe !
Depuis que les scientifiques sont parvenus à le décoder en 2001, le génome humain fait l'objet de toutes sortes de revendications, contre-arguments et mythes. Dans ce périple captivant à travers l'univers en expansion de la génétique, Adam Rutherford nous révèle ce que nos gènes nous disent aujourd'hui de notre histoire et ce que l'histoire nous apprend sur nos gènes.
De l'homme de Neandertal à l'épigénétique, voici un nouveau portrait éclairant et démystifiant de l'individu que vous êtes et le récit de la manière dont vous êtes venu au monde.
