The Intelligent Genome [Hardcover]

Adolf Heschl (Author), H. Loserl (Illustrator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3540671668 | ISBN-13: 978-3540671664 | Publication Date: January 10, 2002 | Edition: 1

Do our genes determine our behavior? Do humans occupy a unique position in evolution? To clarify these provoking questions, the author takes the reader on an ambitious and entertaining journey through a variety of scientific disciplines. In doing so, he creates an image of human evolution that argues that our entire individual knowledge is determined - to the smallest detail - by phylogeny. A provoking and controversial analysis of the theory of our inability to learn something new and of the extent to which our behavior is determined by our genes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "All knowledge of the individual is located in the genome, argues Heschl. With such a radicality he goes much further than many other researchers like Richard Dawkins, the advocate of the selfish gene." Frankfurter Allgemeine, translated from issue June 17, 1998. "We cannot exclude the possibility that Heschl is simply right." Josef H. Reichholf, translated from "Psychologie heute" (July 1999) "I basically agree with Heschl's theses." Manfred Eigen, translated from a personal letter to the author (Nov. 1999) "Written by a trained ethologist and genetic epistemologist, and translated from the 1998 German original, The Intelligent Genome highlights how little we know about the genetic determination of human behaviour. … Although a very intense text, readers of this book may be drawn from various disciplines … . A rich source of bibliography and widely drawn quotes from famous philosophers and scientists, the book can also be a good research resource and reference book for any library collection." (Harjeet Khanna, Today’s Life Science, Vol. 14 (5), 2002) "Burying the myth of the human miracle, the author Adolf Heschl goes beyond any known theories. … In a clear-cut scientific approach, Heschl claims that intelligence, although individually shaped throughout life, already pre-exists in the genome. … The author analyses theories of scientists such as Darwin, Lamarck or Weisman, at the same time taking a highly critical look at his own point of view. Following the road of mankind, the reader is taken on both an ambitious and entertaining journey." (Science in Africa, March, 2002)

From the Inside Flap

Biological evolution works according to the simple principle of differential reproduction: the varying rate of procreation of autonomous individuals. For this purpose, the necessary variation in the "equipment" of different individuals is derived from random changes, the genetic mutations of the underlying hereditary information. The present book documents for the first time that — and in particular why — this simple principle is also unreservedly applicable to the human species. The result is a picture of human evolution which says that even our individual knowledge is determined down to the smallest detail by phylogeny.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (January 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3540671668
• ISBN-13: 978-3540671664
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,815,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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