Segal, has devoted her professional career as a psychologist to the study of identical and fraternal twins. This anecdotal study, following up on
Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior, feeds our fascination with "the tiny twists and great puzzles behind individuals' similarities and differences." By delving deeply into the specific lives of 10 sets of twins, one set of triplets and a set of quadruplets, Segal operates less as a scientist and more as a perceptive listener. She tells about twins raised apart, like Gerry and Mark, who both became firefighters; when they met at age 31, says Gerry, "we were so alike, there was no need to get acquainted." Not so for Oskar, one of half-Jewish identical twins, a Catholic Hitler Youth member in Nazi Germany while his twin, Jack, spent his childhood as a Jew in Trinidad. The author consistently conveys empathy for the uncommon problems of her subjects, such as Agnes and Audrey, identical sisters whose lives changed dramatically when Audrey underwent a sex change operation. Segal opines that studying twins—"naturally conceived clones"—will help society grapple with the advantages and disadvantages of artificial human cloning, which she does not view unfavorably. 30 b&w photos.
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A gripping collection of vignettes on an eternally fascinating phenomenon.
Indivisible By Two is a wonderful book for its scientific implications, its human interest, and its literary quality.
--Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of
The Blank Slate,
How the Mind Works, and
The Language Instinct (20050801)
What E. O. Wilson did for ants, Nancy Segal has done for twins. . . . She has the ability to reach out and communicate with an infectious enthusiasm to both young minds and seasoned scientists.
--Irving Gottesman, Irving and Dorothy Bernstein Professor in Adult Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School (20060101)
People have always thought that as twin athletes we were unique. Now, having read Nancy Segal's book, we're amazed at how many other twins can be so alike and so different at the same time.
Indivisible by Two was a great read!
--Paul and Morgan Hamm, Olympic gymnasts
[Segal] has interviewed and observed numerous sets of twins, recording the results in this fascinating study and engrossing collection of narratives...The connection between twins is irrefutably special; readers will no doubt be enchanted.
--Lynne F. Maxwell (
Library Journal )
In
Indivisible by Two, Professor Segal focuses on 12 diverse case studies of, almost exclusively, monozygotic (MZ; or identical) twins or higher multiples, Each example is so unique in its own way that the reader is left to wonder at the extensiveness of Professor Segal's case notes that she is able to create a book with so many examples that are so different. It is a credit to her that so many twins and their families are willing to share their experiences with her, invite her into their lives and agree to have their stories included in a book. Her attention to detail, humor and chatty style will ensure the book's appeal to a far-reading audience.
--Naomi R. Wray (
Twin Research and Human Genetics )
If you have even the mildest curiosity about how the lives of twins and multiples are woven together, you will want to read Nancy L. Segal's new book,
Indivisible by Two: Lives of Extraordinary Twins...Every story reveals fascinating insight into the physical and emotional ties that bind identical multiples. These glimpses into multiples' lives raise questions about our own lives and families.
--Kim Skublics (
Multiple Moments )
Each of the dozen stories provides fascinating reading...Each chapter in its own right provides insight into the special bonding between twins. (
Twinstuff.com )
Indivisible by Two by Nancy Segal is a feast of stories about monozygotic (identical) twins. It demonstrates the variety of unusual experiences that sometimes come with twinship.
--Patricia M. Malmstrom (
Twins Magazine )
[A] fascinating explanation of the lives and experiences of twins...Segal's book is a rich source of answered and still unanswered questions about twins and twinships, and it leaves us wanting to know more.
--Frank J. Sulloway (
New York Review of Books )
Nancy Segal...moves beyond the confines of the research laboratory, immersing the reader in the multifaceted uniqueness of living life as a twin. Using compelling illustrations of the twins' entwined lives, Segal shows how the combination of an identical heredity and an unusual psychological closeness sustains lifelong similarities in wide-ranging psychological traits. At the same time, she offers many examples of the power of the non-shared environment to induce profound individual differences between pair members...Segal's scholarly and literary talents make
Indivisible by Two an informative, accessible, and pleasurable read for diverse audiences.
--Laura E. Berk (
Human Ethology Bulletin )
