Book description
Acclaimed author Matt Ridley's thrilling follow-up to his bestseller
Genome. Armed with the extraordinary new discoveries about our genes,
Ridley turns his attention to the nature versus nurture debate to bring
the first popular account of the roots of human behaviour.
What makes us who we are?
In February 2001 it was announced that the genome contains not 100,000
genes as originally expected but only 30,000. This startling revision
led some scientists to conclude that there are simply not enough human
genes to account for all the different ways people behave: we must be
made by nurture, not nature.
Matt Ridley argues that the emerging truth is far more interesting than
this myth. Nurture depends on genes, too, and genes need nurture. Genes
not only predetermine the broad structure of the brain; they also absorb
formative experiences, react to social cues and even run memory. They
are consequences as well as causes of the will.
Published fifty years after the discovery of the double helix of DNA,
Nature via Nurture chronicles a new revolution in our understanding of
genes. Ridley recounts the hundred years' war between the partisans of
nature and nurture to explain how this paradoxical creature, the human
being, can be simultaneously free-willed and motivated by instinct and
culture. Nature via Nurture is an enthralling, up-to-the-minute account
of how genes build brains to absorb experience.
Note that it has not been possible to include the same picture content
that appeared in the original print version. 'This clever and
ambitious book is full of novel insights and reflections.' James Le
Fanu, Sunday Telegraph
'Ridley belongs to the coterie that truly pushes science forward and
brings it within the broader purlieus of “culture”. Nature via Nurture
is another fine contribution to an already outstanding oeuvre.' Colin
Tudge, Independent Magazine
'An unrivalled view of cutting-edge research into the roots of human
behaviour.' Clive Cookson, Financial Times
'A balanced, entertaining gallop through the world of environmental
influences and genetic impulses.' Robin McKie, Observer
'Eminently readable.' Dylan Evans, Evening Standard
'Profoundly intelligent and persuasive.' John Cornwell, Sunday Times
Matt Ridley received his BA and D Phil at Oxford researching the
evolution of behaviour. He has been science editor, Washington
correspondent and American editor of The Economist. He has a regular
column in the Daily Telegraph. He is also the author of The Red Queen
(1993), The Origins of Virtue (1996) and Genome (1999). Matt Ridley is
currently the chairman of The International Centre for Life.
