As others have stated, the writing is both clear and elegant. Modern genetics is a hugely important topic, but the future of genetics technology is murky. Mukherjee deals nicely with the complexities although there are bound to be disagreements about his conclusions and musings. More to the point, understanding modern genetics is far from easy especially for those of us without the appropriate scientific background. Toward the end of the book when he discusses many of the modern technologies the going gets rough. However, I have a fairly good lay understanding of genetics, and have read many attempts to explain how all this works. It's just hard work. There were certainly places where I didn't completely follow although perhaps a second or third reading might have done the trick. At any rate this is by far the best introduction to modern genetics although something like Genetics for Dummies would make a nice companion for help in clarification. The latter is somewhat too simplified (and now dated), but it is useful for relatively non-technical explanations.
The author nicely integrates discusses individual cases including those from his own family which makes for a more interesting reading. He also does a superb job of bringing the history to life by focusing on individual scientists and their contributions. It would have been fun to read more about the various personality conflicts and rivalries, but such gossip while interesting is hardly central to the story. The early part of the book dealing with early genetics through Watson and Crick is engaging, and in fact I could hardly put the book down during the first half when the technical issues are not so complicated. The latter half is certainly less of a page turner, but there's just no way to give a reasonable explanation in page-turning mode.
This book is certainly too long and too detailed for the causal reader, but it's brilliant for those of us willing to invest some time. Even the parts I didn't fully understand were interesting if a bit opaque. Highly recommended so long as potential readers do not expect an easy go of it.
The negative reviews are mostly about delivery failures and Kindle mishaps which are not relevant to the worth of the book. These are not issues likely to affect the majority of us and say nothing about the book itself. This is not the best place for complaining about such matters although, of course for some items consistent problems in manufacture and delivery are important to know. Not true here. And there are legitimate complaints about some material that might have been included but wasn't. However, the lack of such material is hardly reason to denigrate the whole book. I too missed material that I wish had been included, but the book is long and inevitable decisions must be made about what gets in and what doesn't. Missing material, which is not extensive in any case, is hardly reason to give the book really low ratings. It's important to have such lapses pointed out, but they have to be balanced against the many strengths of the book.
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The human genome contains about between twenty-one and twenty-three thousand genes that provide the master instructions to build, repair, and maintain humans.Highlighted by 515 Kindle readers- There is no such thing as perfection, only the relentless, thirsty matching of an organism to its environment. That is the engine that drives evolution.Highlighted by 472 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
A Life-changing book if you're into bio and medicine
Honestly, what can't I say about this book. If you're interested in medicine or biology, make yourself a favor and buy this book now. The Gene: An Intimate History is a masterpiece. Mukherjee does an amazing job at connecting the dots between nineteenth-century discoveries by Darwin and Mendel all the way up to Paul Berg and Jennifer Doudna. He intertwined his family's history of mental illness to illustrate how genes truly affect us in everyday settings. After all, we really are just vessels of genetic information. It's a riveting book, and it's best appreciated with some basic biology background because it can be easy to sometimes get lost in the terminology. After finishing the five hundred pages or so of this reading, I can't wait to learn more about genetics. I knew I was into medicine and research way before buying this book, but now I'm seriously considering further specializing in genetics and genomics.The book itself arrived in an ok-condition, but honestly, I can't complain given that I bought it used. It had a slight marking on top of some pages, but nothing too distracting. If you're willing to spend a little extra, I heavily recommend buying the hardcover version.
Top reviews from other countries
sriharsha
A nice storytelling and introduction to genetics
Reviewed in India on March 24, 2024M. Hillmann
Comprehensive history of the gene - powerful evaluation of the future.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2017Amazon Customer
herausragende Entdeckungsreise in die Welt unserer Gene
Reviewed in Germany on September 7, 2017