The Stuff Of Life: A Graphic Guide To Genetics And DNA (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
Pretty good as far as I can tell. Cute frame story. Nice illustrations. Came out before recent discovery that Homo Sapiens did Tha Nasty with Neanderthals. And also the length of time Aborigines have been in Australia has moved further back. And some wee hominids have been found in Indonesia. But still an informative read for a genetics and DNA layman like me.I think, however, of a scientific essay by Noam Chomsky I read 15-odd years ago. Describing the functions of pieces of the eye, he explained, is not the same as understanding how it works, or how sight works, or how it evolved. Science, he said, often confuses describing the functions of pieces of things as "understanding" them. I remember wondering if an avowed atheist was turning coat when I read that piece. But I think he was simply concerned with the limits of scientific explanation.There's a lot of description of processes and functions and structures here...amazing work, intricate and astonishing discoveries for sure. But do the people doing this work really understand how genetics function? Or why it works? Or how these amazing systems came to be? Funny that this comic book taught me more than my year-long Biology course in high school 30-odd years ago. As I continue to build my class library, I wanted to expand my nonfiction collection. What better way than to get a graphic novel/nonfiction hybrid on genetics? This fabulous book explains genetics, DNA, and their implications in our modern society through concise text and entertaining images. As I read this book, flashes of my high school biology class came back to me, especially the stages of mitosis and Mendel's pea plant findings. The human genome project is explored as well, which was completed in 2003. I was surprised to learn how similar humans' genetic material is to many mammals. I will be sharing this book with the science teachers at my high school. They might be able to use it during their genetics unit. If I were more of a science expert, I would be able to better judge the quality of the information in this book. What is presented in a too simplified or sophisticated of a manner? Were the illustrations accurate? A high school student interested in science could devour this book in a day. Finally, the book explains methods scientists are using to combat cancer through genetic manipulation. I found this especially fascinating.
What do You think about The Stuff Of Life: A Graphic Guide To Genetics And DNA (2008)?
Only reads marginally better than a science textbook.
—aprilmsmall
