Book Summary:
A growing number of aspects of human nature are proving to be genetically based, but it is important not to jump to the conclusion that everything about human nature is determined by genes. Richard Lewontin, eminent geneticist from Harvard and founding member of "Science for the People," has written an accessible and important book about the limits of genetic determinism, especially in defining putative differences between races. In technical terms, his basic argument is that the genetic differences between races are not significantly greater than the genetic differences between randomly selected humans within any race. The first edition in 1982, based largely on studies of protein polymorphisms, was prompted in large part by his concerns with the potential dangers of E.O. Wilson's encyclopedic, masterful (but now somewhat dated) Sociobiology, and this 1995 edition includes a considerable amount of more recent evidence from DNA analyses for Lewontin's argument. Recommended. |