Adam Rutherford

This is a story about you. It is the history of who you are and how you came to be. It is unique to you, as it is to each of the 100 billion modern humans who have ever drawn breath. But it is also our collective story, because in every one of our genomes we each carry the history of our species - births, deaths, disease, war, famine, migration and a lot of sex. In this captivating journey through the expanding landscape of genetics, Adam Rutherford reveals what our genes now tell us about human history, and what history can now tell us about our genes. From Neanderthals to murder, from redheads to race, dead kings to plague, evolution to epigenetics, this is a demystifying and illuminating new portrait of who we are and how we came to be.

Control is a book about eugenics, what geneticist Adam Rutherford calls "a defining idea of the twentieth century." Inspired by Darwin's ideas about evolution, eugenics arose in Victorian England as a theory for improving the British population, and quickly spread to America, where it was embraced by presidents, funded by Gilded Age monopolists, and enshrined into racist American laws that became the ideological cornerstone of the Third Reich. Despite this horrific legacy, eugenics looms large today as the advances in genetics in the last thirty years--from the sequencing of the human genome to modern gene editing techniques--have brought the idea of population purification back into the mainstream. Eugenics has "a short history, but a long past," Rutherford writes. The first half of Control is the history of an idea, from its roots in key philosophical texts of the classical world all the way into their genocidal enactment in the twentieth century. The second part of the book explores how eugenics operates today, as part of our language and culture, as part of current political and racial discussions, and as an eternal temptation to powerful people who wish to improve society through reproductive control. With disarming wit and scientific precision, Rutherford explains why eugenics still figures prominently in the twenty-first century, despite its genocidal past. And he confronts insidious recurring questions--did eugenics work in Nazi Germany? And could it work today?--revealing the intellectual bankruptcy of the idea, and the scientific impossibility of its realization.

Inspired by the bestselling A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived and the Sunday Times bestseller How to Argue with a Racist, award-winning geneticist, writer and broadcaster, Adam Rutherford takes children on an amazing adventure through million years of human history, teaching them all about evolution, race and the real human story.

How did an obscure academic idea pave the way to the Holocaust within just fifty years? Why does eugenics still loom large in the 21st century, despite its genocidal past? Did eugenics work? Could it work? Or was it always a pseudoscientific fantasy? Throughout history, people have sought to reduce suffering, eliminate disease and enhance desirable qualities in their children. In the Victorian era eugenics, a full-blooded attempt to impose control over unruly biology, began to grow among the powerful and quickly spread to dozens of countries around the world. But these ideas are not merely historical: today, with new gene editing techniques, conversations are happening about tinkering with the DNA of our unborn children to make them smarter, fitter, stronger. Deeply steeped in contemporary genetics, CONTROL offers a vital account of one of the defining - and most destructive - ideas of the twentieth century.

Despite our clever linguistic abilities, humans are spectacularly ill-equipped to comprehend what's happening in the universe. Our senses and intuition routinely mislead us. The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) tells the story of how we came to suppress our monkey minds and perceive the true nature of reality. Written with wit and humor, this brief book tells the story of science--tales of fumbles and missteps, errors and egos, hard work, accidents, and some really bad decisions--all of which have created the sum total of human knowledge. Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide readers through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe. Rutherford and Fry shine as science sleuths, wrestling with some truly head-scratching questions: Where did time come from? Do we have free will? Does my dog love me? Hilarious sidebars present memorable scientific oddities: for example, hypnotized snails, human-sized ants, and the average time it takes most animals to evacuate their bladders. (A surprisingly consistent twenty-one seconds, if you must know.)Both rigorous and playful, The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans, and the joys and follies of scientific discovery.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Explores just about every area of life' DAILY MAIL'If only Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry were on tap to all of us, all the time . . . The pair have such a gift for making life, numbers and the forces at work in the universe all the richer, stranger, funnier and more marvellous.' Stephen FryIn Rutherford and Fry's comprehensive guidebook, they tell the complete story of the universe and absolutely everything in it - skipping over some of the boring parts. This is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans and the fact that amid all the mess, we can somehow make sense of life. Our brains have evolved to tell us all sorts of things that feel intuitively right but just aren't true: the world looks flat, the stars seem fixed in the heavenly firmament, a day is 24 hours... This book is crammed full of tales of how stuff really works. With the power of science, Rutherford and Fry show us how to bypass our monkey-brains, taking us on a journey from the origin of time and space, via planets, galaxies, evolution, the dinosaurs, all the way into our minds, and wrestling with some truly head-scratching questions that only science can answer:What is time, and where does it come from? Why are animals the size and shape they are? How horoscopes work (Spoiler: they don't, but you think they do)Does my dog love me? Why nothing is truly round? Do you need your eyes to see?'A wonderfully engaging blend of wit, enthusiasm, clarity and knowledge.' Bill Bryson'Like the universe itself, this book is multi-faceted, surprising and full of wonders. It's also funny, wise and exceedingly brainy. You really owe it to yourself to read it.' Tim Harford, author of How To Make The World Add Up

Sorte mennesker er ikke bedre til at løbe langt eller hurtigt end hvide mennesker. Hvide mennesker er ikke mere intelligente end sorte. Østasiatiske studerende er ikke naturligt bedre til matematik, jøder har ikke et medfødt talent for penge, og din hudfarve fortæller ikke noget om, hvilken race du tilhører. Disse og mange andre stereotyper og myter om race er netop de fundamenter, strukturel racisme hviler på. Bogen her giver et videnskabeligt blik på, hvad moderne genetik kan og ikke kan fortælle os om menneskelig forskellighed. Videnskaben er historisk set blevet brugt som et værktøj til at institutionalisere racismen, men i denne bog forsøger Rutherford at vise, hvordan videnskaben kan og bør bruges som et antiracistisk værktøj. Videnskabelige argumenter mod racisme er et våben til at afmontere pseudovidenskabelige ideer om, at de forskelle, der er mellem os mennesker som individer, kan sige noget om os mennesker som større grupper. Et våben mod racisme.

A short, highly directed guide to an area of science that is little understood but increasingly part of public discourse by the Sunday Times bestselling author of HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST

Despite our clever linguistic abilities, humans are spectacularly ill-equipped to comprehend what's happening in the universe. Our senses and intuition routinely mislead us. The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) tells the story of how we came to suppress our monkey minds and perceive the true nature of reality. Written with wit and humor, this brief book tells the story of science--tales of fumbles and missteps, errors and egos, hard work, accidents, and some really bad decisions--all of which have created the sum total of human knowledge. Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide readers through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe. Rutherford and Fry shine as science sleuths, wrestling with some truly head-scratching questions: Where did time come from? Do we have free will? Does my dog love me? Hilarious sidebars present memorable scientific oddities: for example, hypnotized snails, human-sized ants, and the average time it takes most animals to evacuate their bladders. (A surprisingly consistent twenty-one seconds, if you must know.)Both rigorous and playful, The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans, and the joys and follies of scientific discovery.

Dieses Buch ist ein wichtiges Manifest für das Verständnis der menschlichen Evolution und Variation im 21. Jahrhundert. Es leistet einen bedeutenden Beitrag zur aktuellen Diskussion über die Rasse. Klischees und Mythen über Rassen werden nicht nur von offenkundigen Rassisten zum Ausdruck gebracht. Auch gut meinende Menschen vertreten durch ihren kulturellen Erfahrungshorizont Ansichten, die nicht durch die moderne Humangenetik gestützt werden. Sogar der wissenschaftliche Rassismus greift zunehmend um sich und beeinflusst den öffentlichen Diskurs über Politik, Migration, Bildung, Sport und Intelligenz. Der Leser bekommt Argumente an die Hand, um dem entgegen zu treten. Adam Rutherford zeigt, dass die moderne Humangenetik ein mächtiger Verbündeter gegen Rassismus sein kann. Sie zeigt, wie Menschen tatsächlich sind, und nicht, wie sie von der Gesellschaft gesehen werden.

What Our Genes Do (and Don't) Say About Human Difference

Hvordan snakke med en rasist er en særdeles viktig programerklæring for hvordan vi i det tjueførste århundre skal forstå menneskets evolusjon og mangfold, og et betimelig våpen i kampen mot misbruk av vitenskap i intoleransens tjeneste. Rase finnes fordi vi oppfatter det. Rasisme finnes fordi vi tillater det. Men presset på vitenskapen fra krefter som ønsker å legitimere rasistiske ideologier, blir stadig sterkere – og i stadig større grad en del av den offentlige samtalen rundt politikk, migrasjon, utdanning og sport. Stereotypier og myter om rase kommer ikke bare fra uttalte rasister, men fra velmenende mennesker med en erfaring og en kulturell bagasje som gjør dem disponert for synspunkter som ikke har dekning i den moderne forskningen på menneskelig genetikk. Selv enkelte forskere finner det ubehagelig å fremme meninger om rase basert på egen forskning. Likevel kan vitenskap og historie, hvis det forstås riktig, være mektige allierte i møte med rasisme, og gi det klareste bilde av hvordan mennesker faktisk er, snarere enn hvordan vi antar at de er.

The Sunday Times bestselling manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation - and a weapon against scientific racism

Faktoilla rotukiihkoilijoita vastaan. Adam Rutherfordin Vastaväitteitä rasisteille on sekä tietokirja ihmislajin monimuotoisuudesta että manifesti ja ase rasistisia maailmanselityksiä vastaan. Ihmisrotuja luonnehtivat stereotypiat ja myytit ovat voimissaan. Niitä eivät käytä ainoastaan rasistit: myös monet hyvää tarkoittavat ihmiset sortuvat, usein ehkä huomaamattaan, piilorasistisiin näkemyksiin. Usein kuulee puhuttavan, kuinka mm. afrikkalaistaustaiset urheilijat ovat ylivertaisia eurooppalaisiin verrattuna, tai kuinka juutalaiset ovat muita älykkäämpiä. Ja näiden käsitysten lisäksi löytyy toki huomattavasti vahingollisempia rodullisia yleistyksiä. Tällaisia ajatuksia vastaan paras ase on tiede. Sen avulla näemme, millaisia ihmiset todella ovat, emmekä millaisina haluamme heidät nähdä. Geenitutkija Adam Rutherford kertoo, mitä DNA voi ja mitä se ei voi kertoa erilaisista ihmispopulaatioista, joita myös roduiksi kutsutaan.

Vor etwa 45.000 Jahren haben wir Menschen uns mit der Schaffung von Kultur, Werkzeugen, Symbolik und Kunst von unseren Vorfahren und Ursprüngen entfernt. Diese „kognitive Revolution“ gab uns das Gefühl, dass wir etwas Besonderes sind. Schriftsteller, Wissenschaftler, Philosophen und Religionen staunen seit Jahrtausenden über unsere Brillanz. Dennoch sind wir mit dem Rest der Natur durch Gene, Anatomie und Physiologie verbunden und in einer gemeinsamen Evolution verwurzelt. Alle Arten sind einzigartig, aber sind wir einzigartiger als andere Tiere? Diese Frage geht an die Wurzel dessen, was wir sind. Doch viele wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse haben im Laufe der Zeit Zweifel an der Sonderstellung des Menschen aufkommen lassen. Dinge, die wir einst als einzigartig menschlich betrachtet haben, sind es nicht. Wir sind nicht die einzige Spezies, die z. B. Pläne für die Zukunft schmiedet, vergangene Entscheidungen bereut, um verlorene Leben trauert und Sex aus anderen Gründen als derZeugung von Nachkommen hat.

Racist pseudoscience has become so commonplace that it can be hard to spot. But its toxic effects on society are plain to see--feeding nationalism, fueling hatred, endangering lives, and corroding our discourse on everything from sports to intelligence. Even well-intentioned people repeat stereotypes based on "science," because cutting-edge genetics are hard to grasp--and all too easy to distort. Paradoxically, these misconceptions are multiplying even as scientists make unprecedented discoveries in human genetics--findings that, when accurately understood, are powerful evidence against racism. We've never had clearer answers about who we are and where we come from, but this knowledge is sorely needed in our casual conversations about race. How to Argue With a Racist emphatically dismantles outdated notions of race by illuminating what modern genetics actually can and can't tell us about human difference. We now know that the racial categories still dividing us do not align with observable genetic differences. In fact, our differences are so minute that, most of all, they serve as evidence of our shared humanity.

Publisher's Note: The Book of Humans was previously published in hardcover as Humanimal. In this new evolutionary history, geneticist Adam Rutherford explores the profound paradox of the human animal. Looking for answers across the animal kingdom, he finds that many things once considered exclusively human are not: We aren't the only species that "speaks," makes tools, or has sex outside of procreation. Seeing as our genome is 98 percent identical to a chimpanzee's, our DNA doesn't set us far apart, either. How, then, did we develop the most complex culture ever observed? The Book of Humans proves that we are animals indeed--and reveals how we truly are extraordinary.