The violinist's thumb : and other lost tales of love, war, and genius, as written by our genetic code
Kean, Sam2012
Book
"In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In THE VIOLINIST'S THUMB, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking. They can even allow some people, because of the exceptional flexibility of their thumbs and fingers, to become truly singular violinists. Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future"--
Main title:
Author:
Edition:
1st ed.
Imprint:
New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2012.
Collation:
ix, 401 p. : ill., ports. ; 25 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 385-389) and index.
Linking notes:
Print version Kean, Sam Violinist's thumb New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2012. 1st ed.
Contents:
Partial contents: Machine generated contents note: pt. I A, C, G, T, and You: How to Read a Genetic Score -- 1.Genes, Freaks, DNA: How Do Living Things Pass Down Traits to Their Children? -- 2.The Near Death of Darwin: Why Did Geneticists Try to Kill Natural Selection? -- 3.Them's the DNA Breaks: How Does Nature Read---and Misread---DNA? -- 4.The Musical Score of DNA: What Kinds of Information Does DNA Store? -- pt. II Our Animal Past: Making Things That Crawl and Frolic and Kill -- 5.DNA Vindication: Why Did Life Evolve So Slowly---Then Explode in Complexity? -- 6.The Survivors, the Livers: What's Our Most Ancient and Important DNA? -- 7.The Machiavelli Microbe: How Much Human DNA Is Actually Human? -- 8.Love and Atavisms: What Genes Make Mammals Mammals? -- 9.Humanzees and Other Near Misses: When Did Humans Break Away from Monkeys, and Why? -- pt. III Genes and Geniuses: How Humans Became All Too Human -- 10.Scarlet A's, C's, G's, and T's: Why Did Humans Almost Go Extinct?
ISBN:
9780316182317 (hbk)0316182311 (hbk)
Dewey class:
572.8
LC class:
QH437
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
218457
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Library at the Dock | -Science and Nature | SCIENCE 572.8 KEAN | Available |