Reviews and Comments

TL;DR: Engaging read but egregious misses stop me from recommending this to anyone. In general this field develops quickly so in any case going for a newer book makes more sense.

Oh boy, this hurt. I used to give this 5 stars. Matt Ridley indeed does a fantastic job at getting you excited about genetics with (for me at least) just the right amount of depth.
However I have two issues I couldn’t get past:

1. Not all of his claims have clear sources. That’s a dealbreaker when it applies to outlandish things like in
2. Wild conclusions and throwaway lines. In general I was amazed at how frequently he managed to cram in his libertarian ideology. It was quite grating and felt like he used the actual genetic facts as a trojan horse to then bring in other claims without any sources. Not all of his sources seem to be of great quality either, meaning I would take all of his statements with a grain of salt.

Particularly egregious low points:
A. Chapter Chromosomes X and Y (“Conflict”)
In this chapter he basically claims a genetic reason for why men sexually harass women. They supposedly just don’t see it as harassment. If you’re gonna offer up excuses for sexual harassment you better give a source.

B. Chapter Chromosome 21 (“Eugenics”)
Here he likens eugenics propaganda to the scientific consensus on climate change. Wow.
He does actually give a source here, an obscure paper from 1995 that reads more like a polemic opinion piece than a scientific work. Sure, the book is dated overall but this has me worried to even check some of his other sources.