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flooey's review against another edition
4.0
A solid layman's introduction to DNA and genetics. I was a little disappointed it didn't have more technical content, but I'm probably not the target audience. It is chock full of amusing and fascinating genetic stories, though.
alliylau's review against another edition
It's SOO boring. It took me 3 weeks to read 2 chapters. I got the book years ago as assigned reading in my high school science class, and I never read it until now. My teacher kept saying how it was interesting, narrative non-fiction, but it just reads like a textbook.
mefoster07's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
4.25
meanypanini's review against another edition
3.0
The book has lots of interesting stories and I learned a lot about how genes function (and microbes *shudder* don't ask about the microbes). I would have rated the book higher if it wasn't so comedic. I felt the book could rarely take a single thing seriously. I know the jokes are a form of strengthening the retention of what I'm reading, but I'm reading this for the knowledge, less for the dick jokes. Furthermore, I felt that some of the information was kinda useless (to me) and gross. Admittedly, most of these critiques are based on taste, but it's why I didn't rate it higher. A good science/non-fiction book to me is one that either explains difficult concepts to someone not as knowledgeable in that area, or robust deconstructions of concepts. This book was half simplified explanations and half sex jokes.
daumari's review against another edition
5.0
Greatly enjoyed this. Part explanation for the lay person, part historical journey through the history of genetics, this book and its notes were a joy to read. The DNA acrostic was fun, too- flashbacks of BIOCH 301.
dillonbrantley's review against another edition
4.0
It's well-written and filled with fascinating case studies (many of which I was unfamiliar with despite my background in the subject matter). However, the overall structure left something to be desired. It felt like a series of case studies and histories rather than an overall journey of what we have learned about DNA.
alidottie's review against another edition
3.0
Some fun stories and interesting information mingled in with tons of genetics language where I skimmed forward. It is interesting to learn what science is finding about the human body. I like to mix it with my own thoughts and beliefs. So when things go back--even info in our DNA, I think about that backing the concept that what we were made from (by God) were materials that have existed longer than ourselves. Anyway, this book was a little too long and not quite reader friendly enough for me to recommend.
spamrisk's review against another edition
4.0
Took biology.
But would've liked this book more
If I just studied.
But would've liked this book more
If I just studied.
deltajuliet83's review against another edition
4.0
I like Sam Kean’s books, it feels like being taught through stories instead of just facts… he makes it much kore interesting, to the point that I end up spouting facts to my husband later!