Book Summary:
Why do cats give birth to kittens, lions to lion-cubs, and rabbits to baby rabbits? Why do human children, too, not only outwardly look like their parents, but also resemble them in character and disposition? Why are twins as like as two peas or quite different? Why are some babies born monsters? Can man remake animals and plants to order? Questions like those are the field of this book. It describes the quests that led to major discoveries in genetics, and the obstacles encountered by researchers, and tells about the scientists who study heredity, and how to change it. The author, a prominent biologist himself, takes the reader to research laboratories, farm fields, and hospitals, opening up before him the whole broad field of modern genetics. Why I'm Like Dad received the award of the USSR Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge (Ananiye) for the best popular science writing in 1967. |