Book cover of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity by Carl Zimmer
Biological Sciences

She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity

Celebrated New York Times columnist and science writer Carl Zimmer presents a profoundly original perspective on what we pass along from generation to generation. Charles Darwin played a crucial part in turning heredity into a scientific question, and yet he failed spectacularly to answer it. The birth of genetics in the early 1900s seemed to do precisely that. Gradually, people translated their old notions about heredity into a language of genes. As the technology for studying genes became cheaper, millions of people ordered genetic tests to link themselves to missing parents, to distant ancestors, to ethnic identities… […Learn More]

Computers & Technology

The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another

In the bestselling tradition of Stuff Matters and The Disappearing Spoon: a clever and engaging look at materials, the innovations they made possible, and how these technologies changed us. Finalist for the 41st Los Angeles Times Book Award in Science and Technology and selected as one of the Best Summer Science Books Of 2020 by Science Friday.  […Learn More]