Description: One of our most brilliant evolutionary biologists, Richard Lewontin here provides a concise, accessible account of what his work has taught him about biology and about its relevance to human affairs. In the process, he exposes some of the common and troubling misconceptions that misdirect and stall our understanding of biology and evolution.
Brief description: Richard Lewontin was Alexander Agassiz Research Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. His many books include Biology and Ideology, Not in Our Genes, and Human Diversity.
Review Quotes: In his latest book, The Triple Helix...Lewontin lays out his position with devastating clarity; the science in the book should be accessible to most laypersons. However much our DNA may tell us about individual diseases, he says, ultimately reductionism provides a simplified and therefore false picture of both the interactions between the genes of any cell and the other parts of the cell and the interactions between a cell and all the other cells of an organism. By extension, that false picture also undermines a true understanding of any organism's interaction with its environment.--Ralph Brave "Salon" (1/9/2001 12:00:00 AM)