In The Disappearing Spoon, best-selling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In The Violinist's Thumb, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA.

There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking. They can even allow some people, because of the exceptional flexibility of their thumbs and fingers, to become truly singular violinists.

Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future.

Listening Length

12 hours and 35 minutes
Author

Sam Kean
Narrator

Henry Leyva
Audible release date

July 17, 2012
Language

English
Publisher

Hachette Audio
ASIN

B008M211HY
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 35 minutes
Author	Sam Kean
Narrator	Henry Leyva
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	July 17, 2012
Publisher	Hachette Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B008M211HY
Best Sellers Rank	#45,633 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #22 in Genetics (Audible Books & Originals) #46 in Anatomy & Physiology (Audible Books & Originals) #88 in Biology (Audible Books & Originals)

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4.6 out of 5

676 global ratings

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2 star		1%
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A. D. Thibeault

A Brief Summary and Review

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 21, 2012

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*A full summary of this book is available here: An Executive Summary of Sam Kean's 'The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code'

The main argument: In a sense the story of DNA has two strands. On the one hand, as the blueprint of all that lives and the mechanism of heredity, DNA tells the story of life (and the history of life), from the smallest, simplest microbe, to we human beings, who have managed to figure all of this out. Of course, there is still much about DNA that we don't know. But given that we didn't even know of its existence until a lowly Swiss physician and biologist named Friedrich Miescher stumbled upon it in the 1860's, you have to admit we've come a long way in such a short time. And this is just where the second strand of the story of DNA begins: the story of our unraveling the mystery. While perhaps not as grandiose as the story of life itself, this detective story is significant in its own right, for it has transformed how we understand all that lives--including ourselves. This is especially the case given that the latest chapters in this story have revealed not only our own genomic blueprint, but the (deeply daunting) fact that we have the power to change this blueprint and thus became the masters of our own future as a species. While each of the strands of the story of DNA could fill a book in their own right (if not several), the author Sam Kean has managed to weave the two together and fit them both in his new book `The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code'. Kean's project may seem like a particularly tall task, but he manages to pull it off by way of focusing in on only the main (and/or juiciest) moments and characters throughout.

Kean divides his tome into four parts. The first part explores the basics of DNA and heredity, and the earliest discoveries thereof. Here we are introduced to the aforementioned Miescher, as well as Gregor Mendel, who teased out the basic laws of heredity using his famed peas. We also learn of Thomas Hunt Morgan and his team of eccentric lab assistants who managed to marry Mendelism (genetics) with Darwinism (evolution by natural selection) to develop the modern evolutionary synthesis, which stands as the main pillar of modern biology. We also learn about genetic mutations and how these glitches are the key to evolution. Sadly, these glitches also have their downside, which we witness through the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who had the terrible misfortune of being in the blast area of both of the nuclear bombs that the US dropped on Japan at the end of WWII.

Part II of the book explores DNA's role in the beginnings and evolution of life. In particular, Kean focuses on the major leaps in evolution, from the first microbes, to microbes with complex internal specialization, to multi-celled organisms with specialized cells (which includes all plants and animals), to mammals, to primates, to us. All of this may sound very technical, but Kean manages to keep the story lively with tales of northern seafarers encountering angry polar bears (and learning that biting into their innards can be just as deadly as them biting into yours), and Soviet scientists embarking on a project to create humanzees (yes, that's a cross between a human and a chimpanzee).

Part III of the book turns to human DNA in particular, and what sets us apart as a species. Here we learn how our DNA reveals that our species has passed through several genetic bottlenecks--meaning there have been numerous occasions where our numbers have dwindled to near-extinction levels, with the latest bottleneck occurring as little as 70,000 years ago. This has left us with far less genetic diversity than most other species, including our closest living relatives, the chimps (compared to whom we also have two less chromosomes). We also learn about some of the genes that have contributed to the evolution of our big brains--the one thing that separates us most as a species. Finally, we learn about the role that DNA plays in our peculiar attraction to art.

The fourth and final part of the book gets into the intricacies of the structure of DNA, and how our unraveling these intricacies (through the work of Watson and Crick, and the Human Genome Project) has allowed us to manipulate life forms. While these discoveries have opened up enormous opportunities, they have also led to some very poignant questions about just how we should be using this knowledge--especially when it comes to ourselves and our own species. As our knowledge of DNA increases (currently at a rate that exceeds Moore's Law) these questions will only become more pressing moving forward.

Given the remarkably wide range of his subject matter, Kean's work runs the risk of becoming as tangled and sprawling as a string of DNA. However, the author does manage to keep the sprawl to a minimum (for the most part). Also, the science does get a bit thorny at times (the odd visual would have helped), but again, Kean mostly succeeds in making some very complex science easy to understand; what's more, Kean's clever and very down to earth use of language adds some nice flavor to the dish. A full summary of the book is available here: An Executive Summary of Sam Kean's 'The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code'

41 people found this helpful

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Solid Science Writing on DNA

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 23, 2012

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The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean

"The Violinist's Thumb" is a book about stories involving DNA and using DNA to solve historical mysteries. Best-selling author of the wonderful "The Disappearing Spoon", science-writer Sam Kean is at it again but this time he tackles genetics. This 416-page book is broken out into the following four parts: Part I. A, C, G, T, and You: How to Read a Genetic Score, Part II. Our Animal Past: Making Things That Crawl and Frolic and Kill, Part III. Genes and Geniuses: How Humans Became All Too Human and Part IV. The Oracle of DNA: Genetics in the Past, Present and Future.

Positives:
1. Science writing at its best. Sam Kean has fun with his writing style and is able to immerse science, history, humor and anecdotes into his narrative.
2. A well-researched book that is accessible to the masses. Once again, Kean tackles an ambitious project and succeeds.
3. Fascinating and important topic of genetics. You will no doubt gain a better understanding of this fascinating science.
4. Very good format. Each chapter addresses a question.
5. Does a really good job of defining difficult concepts.
6. The history of genetics through the eyes of the men and women behind it. Once again (I'm referring to his previous book, "The Disappearing Spoon"), Kean gives female scientists their due and puts into perspective unique obstacles they had to face because of their gender.
7. The impact of fruit flies to the study of genetics. "The fly boys".
8. Kean does a wonderful job of providing stories that help the reader understand a key concept of genetics.
9. Ties between genetics and linguistics beyond Zipf's law.
10. Find out what scientists routinely cite as the most important master's thesis ever.
11. The power of DNA. DNA clocks...
12. An interesting look into cancer. HIV.
13. The Human Genome Project. The history behind it.
14. One of the most fascinating parasites I've ever read about, "Toxoplasma gondii" better known as Toxo...I will not spoil it.
15. Notable traits of mammals. Some really cool and bizarre tales or should I say tail.
16. The things that make us human. The lack of diversity in human DNA. Our link to the past, Neanderthals. Intelligence.
17. There are some amazing facts in this book.
18. A fascinating section on human diseases or afflictions to historical icons: Paganini (the reference to the cover), Kennedy, Darwin, Lincoln, etc...
19. Nature versus nurture. Epigenetics. Lamarck, Darwin, Mendel...
20. An interesting look into homosexuality.
21. The future of genetics.
22. Links worked fine.

Negatives:
1. As much as I liked this book, it's not as good as his bestselling book "The Disappearing Spoon".
2. Kean's focus is on storytelling over substance.
3. The chapter on the race for the Human genome was too "gossipy" for its own good.
4. Could have used more illustrations, charts or diagrams.

In summary, I enjoy Sam Kean's style of writing; he's engaging, witty and does so while enlightening the reader on genetics. Though his focus is on storytelling over content, somehow, some concepts are clearer to me as a result of reading this book. Some of the stories are truly fascinating and some amazing facts will stick with you for a long time. Though not as good as his best-selling book, "The Disappearing Spoon", your library will welcome this fine book. I recommend it!

Further suggestions: " The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements " by the same author, " The Universe Inside You: The Extreme Science of the Human Body From Quantum Theory to the Mysteries of the Brain " by Brian Clegg, " The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution " by Gregory Cochran, " The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution " by Richard Dawkins, " Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors " Nicholas Wade, " Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body " by Neil Shubin, " Why Evolution Is True " by Jerry A. Coyne, " The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution " by Sean B. Carroll, " Human: The Science Behind What Makes Your Brain Unique " by Michael S. Gazzaniga and " The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature " by Steven Pinker.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Roland Paul Watkns

Amazing introduction to DNA

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 27, 2021

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This is a great book about the power of the DNA code and how it was discovered.

Tracy CompulsiveReaders

The Violinist's Thumb

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 30, 2019

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Bought for my son who is studying BioChem and he really enjoyed it.

One person found this helpful

jen60

Goes on a bit?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 5, 2019

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It started well with lots of interesting information, then a third of the way through I started glazing over?

Ms Vivien E Payne

Fascinating and easy to read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 26, 2017

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This is a fascinating and easy to read history and account of the study of genetics, written with a down to earth style and with a wonderful sense of humour. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this subject. I really enjoyed it. And you don't need a degree to understand it, either!

FGHM

Gripping

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

A science book reads like a story book. Interesting and informative. Highly recommend.

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