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Title: Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development
ISBN: 0979845602
Author:
Christiane Nusslein-Volhard
Publicate Date: 2008-04-22
Publish: 2008-04-22
List Price: $17.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.78
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $11.17
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.94
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Good Book
This was a great book for someone who doesn't know a lot about genes or development. The book was easy to read and wasn't hard to understand what the author was trying to explain. I read this book for a Graduate level Biological Anthropology class and it was a great introduction to German and other Scientists who usually get skipped over by English Scientists studying the same thing.
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2: Not destined to be a popular science classic
This book could be used by a motivated individual who wanted an introduction to the basics of developmental biology. However, it is not destined to be a popular science classic. Nusslein-Volhard is an excellent scientist, and does an adequate job of putting the science down on paper in an orderly and simplified manner, but she does not have the writing skill to keep the reader's interest. So, bring your own motivation, or forget it. There is no narrative skill in telling a story, or solving a puzzle, or building interest, it's just one pile of facts after another. "Here's a simplified description of fly embryo development. Now here's a simplified description of chicken development."
The book contains:
a brief historical review of important developments in the history of biology
an account of how complex segmentation of an embryo could be accomplished from simple morphogenic gradients (probably the best part)
a brief review of development in various model organisms (fly, chicken, mouse)
an attempt to relate this to human development
discussion of current ethical issues
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3: Solid Primer on the field
This book was pretty good. The material is a little tedious, and not presented in quite a "fun" scientific way (think Sean Carroll). However, if you're looking for a slightly higher level intro to developmental biology, this is a clear, concise book on the topic. The myriad pictures (all hand drawn, if I recall) really help to visualize the concepts. I recommend this as a solid devolpment biology/genetics primer.
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4: Self-assured author / cartoon science
Science magazine did a review of this book. The author is brief to the point of the book almost being a cartoon--the one saving grace is the author is a good illustrator, and the line drawings are excellent. The book is a mere 180 pages yet has a final chapter on such controversial and complex matters as cloning, designer babies, gene therapy, and human embroynic stem cells, and the author, says Science, holds unambiguous opinions in these areas. Since science evolves and nearly nothing is black and white (even Darwin's original theory of evolution has evolved over time), the reader can draw their own opinion. I'm not suggesting this is not a useful book. I've actually learned history from non-fiction comic books that are popular in Japan. But this book is written for a general audience and a lot of information is simply lost in the quest to reach the lowest common denominator.
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5: Evolution is accidental???
According to Foxnews: "Fully 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God". Yet this book wants to insult them all by saying: "They are not the result of the unfathomable design of a Creator". There is no reason for Christiane to take this in your face attitude toward Creation Science.
The book is a fast read, sort of like a extended artical in a magazine. For more information on 'How Cells Communicate' you may want to take a look at Debra Neihoff book "The Language of Life". Debra is a lot more fun in the picturesque language that she uses.
Here is the whole quote from this book:
"The important conclusion of this theory is that the characteristics of living beings are subject to the laws of evolution. All currently existing beings originated from forms that have survived during the process of evolution. They are not the result of the unfathomable design of a Creator, but have developed as a result of biological mechanisms that have been tested and improved upon. Evolution is accidental. Its driving force is the process of selection rather than the goal-oriented adaptation that might result from characteristics favored throughout an individuals's livetime. Charles Darwin's theory has been consistently supported by modern biological research, and evolution as an explaination of the origin of new species can no longer be objectively or intellectually disputed."
I should give the book 0 stars, but my only real objection was this one very insulting paragraph where she tries to claim that her in your face evolution opinion can not be "intellectually disputed". Anything and everything in Science can be "intellectually disputed". That is one of the things that makes it science.
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