Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior (Paperback)

by Nancy L. Segal (Author)
Key Phrases: noteworthy twins, friendship extraordinaire, twin research findings, New York, United States, Unfolding Lives (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Twin research has fueled bitter debates over the degree of genetic influence on intelligence, disease, mental disorders, special abilities and other traits. Almost encyclopedic in scope, this elegantly written study cogently distills and makes available to the general reader a wealth of research from the fields of behavioral genetics, evolutionary psychology and social science. A professor of developmental psychology and director of the Twins Study Center at California State, Fullerton, Segal contends that studies of twins, raised together or apart, demonstrate that genetic influence affects virtually every human characteristic, including IQ, personality, longevity, sociability, job preference and satisfaction, mathematical skills and athletic prowess. Parents, surprisingly, tend to be highly inaccurate judges of whether their offspring are identical or fraternal twins. Segal endorses testing during pregnancy or routine DNA analysis of newborns, arguing that knowledge of twin type affects parents' and educators' management of twins' behavior. A twin herself, Segal includes helpful chapters on the bonds twins develop, on how to cope with the loss of a twin and on conjoined twins, among other subjects. She also guides readers through new fertility treatments that may increase the odds of conceiving multiples. This survey will capture the imagination of anyone curious about twins or human behavioral development. Photos. Agent, Angela Rinaldi.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
In the most significant survey of twin research to date, Segal (director of the Twins Study Ctr. at California State Univ., Fullerton, and a fraternal twin herself) illustrates that by using twins as "living laboratories" we can sort out which aspects of twins' lives are influenced by genetic inheritance, and, in turn, we can begin to "lay bare the basis of human behavior." Drawing on all sorts of twin studies, Segal describes twin types and elaborates on findings regarding the development of personality and intelligence. She also looks closely at twin relationships (including conjoined twins) to understand grief, competition, bonding, cooperation, and more. Most refreshing are Segal's frank discussion of the complications inherent in the research and her many proposals for further research. Though her prose is dense, it holds plenty for anyone interested in twins or in fine questions of human development and evolutionary psychology. This is an excellent supplement to Lawrence Wright's more popularly written Twins: And What They Tell Us About Who We Are (Wiley, 1997). Recommended for academic and public libraries.ARebecca Miller, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Plume; 1 edition (April 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452280575
• ISBN-13: 978-0452280571
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #275,881 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly written and brimming with twin/human revelations, April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us about Human Behavior (Hardcover)

Dr. Nancy Segal has further drawn back the curtain shrouding the mysteries of human behavior with this enduring observation. I found the book reveals an enormous amount about ourselves through the study of twins. Dr. Segal is a gifted researcher with an exquisite writing style. She takes elaborate research topics and explains them in ways that we all can understand. Page after page, the book reveals new information about how we humans develop through nature and nurture, the end result being that our genetic design has more to do with who we are than we every imagined.

The book gives us significant insight far beyond the surface interest most have in twins. I found the book also very entertaining with its numerous ancedotes and real-life stories about twins. Being a twin myself, the book helped me gain new perspective about my twinship and eliminate many eroneous perceptions/myths about twins.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, November 3, 2001

By	Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us about Human Behavior (Hardcover)

This book provides an encyclopedic overview of research about twins. When I first opened the book, my initial reaction was "ouch", because of the densely packed font. The reason for the denseness is that Segal has so many topics to cover and so much information to share with us that the letters had to be squeezed to get it all into one volume. But not to fear - - there are pictures sprinkled throughout the text.

Segal, a twin herself, has been researching twins for over 20 years, since her undergraduate studies. This book sums up much of that research in a format that is approachable by general audiences (and includes extensive endnotes to help interested readers find the studies that are cited). The many topics in her book include: identical twins, fraternal twins, twins reared apart, children adopted together, conjoined twins, non-human twins, friendship between twins, loss of a twin, famous twins, mental skills, athletic skills, and behavioral traits.

One of the most interesting results of Segal's and others' twin research is the strong influence that genes have on intelligence, behavioral traits, and athletic ability. Segal reports that identical twins, reared together or apart, are remarkably similar in these areas, and become more so as they get older. The similarity is weaker with fraternal twins, siblings, and cousins, and hardly found at all between unrelated same-aged children raised together. Certain health factors on the other hand, seem to be more dependent on environmental factors and life choices than on genetics, such as aging of the skin and heart disease. Many of Segal's results come from research on identical twins reared apart, in whom strong similarities point to genetic programming since the environments in which they were raised were different. The logical opposite of identical twins reared apart is unrelated same-aged children reared together, in whom any similarities would suggest environmental influences. Segal has a short chapter on such siblings, but this area could really use more research to complement what has been done with twins reared apart.

This book is absolutely fascinating for what it says, not only about twins and other multiples, about the siblings and parents of twins, about adopted children, but also about humans in general.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An informative and enjoyable book on twins for everyone!, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us about Human Behavior (Hardcover)

I love this book! It is a gold mine of information, of anecdotes, of insightful observations. Twin research to Segal is "bliss." She reveals this in the very personal "Afterword: Part of Me". Her enthusiasm is infectious. Her bliss in contagious. Entwined Lives is a monument to twinship. Segal's book comes with glowing tributes on the back from Professor David Lykken and Professor Irving Gottesman. Their enthusiasm for the book is surpassed by the enthusiasm of the author for her subject and all the twins she has met. The book is described with exclamation by Thomas J. Bouchard, Ph.D. in his Foreword as a "book extraordinaire!". It certainly is. Nancy Segal writes about twins with verve and enjoyment in a style which will appeal to the general reader. All readers, including academics, will learn. There are extensive notes and references for each chapter and a Glossary to explain more technical terms, although these are avoided where possible. The personal style of the book intentionally and very successfully allows easy translation of the technical into the generally comprehensible.