A concise and useful book of evolutionary science.
A lively addition to the literature on the “unfathomable mystery” of human beings.
With the genetics revolution in full swing, a steady stream of books explains the role heredity plays on our development and behavior with the proviso (most authors agree) that it is not the sole influence. In their contribution to the genre, Tattersall and DeSalle (co-authors: A Natural History of Beer, 2019, etc.), both scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, deliver a highly learned lesson in what we do and don’t inherit from our parents. “We all come into the world,” they write, “with the potential to absorb any language or set of cultural norms…yet by an early age, we may have absorbed an unshakeable perspective on the world that is completely incompatible with that of members of other societies (or even, occasionally, of our own).” Genes have a great deal to do with this, so the authors rock no boats by beginning with Gregor Mendel, whose discovery of simple, single gene inheritance has the advantage of being easy to understand but the disadvantage of explaining little because essentially all inherited traits result from the complex interaction of many genes. Discoveries of the gene for (…homosexuality, violence, religion, IQ, etc.) make headlines but turn out to be wrong. Evolution proceeds through the selection of organisms whose traits give them a reproductive advantage. Plenty of brilliant researchers have contributed to understanding this process, and the authors show little patience with a few whose theories and books seem to simplify matters and have convinced many colleagues. These include works that attempt to explain evolution as the result of competition between units of heredity—e.g., Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene. Tattersall’s legions of fans will recognize his contribution in the eloquent history of the evolution of Homo sapiens, both in body and brain. Genomicist DeSalle delivers an intelligent lesson in the basics of heredity and population genetics, although readers will have to pay close attention.
A concise and useful book of evolutionary science.Pub Date: April 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64313-026-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Pegasus
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
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