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Control
- Author
- Adam Rutherford
- Narrator
- Adam Rutherford
- Publisher
- Orion
- Publish Date
- 3 February 2022
- Run Time
- 6 hours 47 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
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What to expect
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.
Critics Review
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A remarkable combination of intelligence, knowledge, insight and admirable political passion, on a serious moral problem in contemporary society
CARLO ROVELLI
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A short, sharp, illuminating overview of the science, politics, uses and abuses of human gene editing
OBSERVER, Book of the Week
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Weighty and serious but accessible and perfectly pitched. The scholarship is astounding
ALICE ROBERTS
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A clear-sighted look at the past and present dangers of eugenics. Rutherford tells [the story] with great concision and with clarity, both scientific and moral. [He] condenses tricky concepts into smart and often witty prose, combining erudition with humility . . . honest, informed and humane
FINANCIAL TIMES
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Breathtakingly brilliant and dark, a popular science book that doesn't talk down to you.
Alex Preston in the i paper
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CONTROL is persuasive, sensible and ultimately reassuring, but it is not complacent . . . To know history is "to inoculate ourselves against its being repeated", Rutherford argues. From that perspective, this book is a shot worth having
GUARDIAN, Book of the Day
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Genetics has attracted brilliant, visionary scientists. It has attracted racists and charlatans. CONTROL skilfully weaves together these two strands of the discipline's history
HELEN LEWIS
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There are many involving arguments, historical surprises, detailed case studies and amiable jokes in this book, and you'll finish it with renewed respect for, and interest in, what real scientists do
SPECTATOR
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[Rutherford's] scientific demolition of the eugenic project is brilliantly illuminating and compelling. His book will be indispensable for anyone who wants to assess the wild claims and counter-claims surrounding new genetic technologies
NEW STATESMAN
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Discussions around the idea of population control are increasingly resurfacing. CONTROL's strength is that it provides not only much-needed guidance for these conversations by reminding us of the horrors of the past, but also uses scientific evidence to dismantle the viability of these ideas
NEW SCIENTIST
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Rutherford's swift, well-written account of these fascinating scientific and moral issues is well worth a read
THE TIMES, Book of the Week
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Rutherford sharply undermines the old trope that science is detached from politics, showing that to stand on the shoulders of giants is no barrier to recognising their flaws and fetishes. A vital warning from both history and science of the quiet horrors that can ensue if society becomes overconfident in its ability to 'improve' the population. Smart and surprisingly entertaining
CAROLINE DODDS PENNOCK
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Rutherford presents a profoundly sensible take on the complexities of history . . . an important book
MAIL ON SUNDAY
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Fizzy and pugnacious . . . brilliant . . . A fierce and funny broadside against eugenics and its admirers
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
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Rutherford takes us on a journey that encompasses both the history of eugenics and its current-day practice . . . an
insightful and compelling studyi NEWSPAPER
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Few are as well-qualified to perform the necessary demolition [of eugenics] as Adam Rutherford
DAILY MAIL, Book of the Week
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Insightful and compelling
PRESS ASSOCIATION review syndicated across regional press
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An important book . . . It might be true, as Rutherford claims, that "eugenics is a busted flush, a pseudoscience that cannot deliver on its promise", but this book is a reminder of why we must remain vigilant
THE TABLET
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An insightful and compelling look into the story of eugenics, showing how its legacies are still prevalent in language and literature today. It's a hard one to put down . . . Rutherford makes it easy to digest
DAILY RECORD
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From Victorian polymaths to Nazi breeding programmes, Rutherford traces the history of eugenics with punch and brio - but his book really shines when it takes aim at contemporary pseudoscience.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
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Details
- Author
- Adam Rutherford
- Narrator
- Adam Rutherford
- Duration
- 6 hours 47 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 February 2022
- ISBN
- 9781474622417
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Orion
- Genre
- Genetics (non-medical)
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
* FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST *Throughout history, people have sought to improve society by reducing suffering, eliminating disease or enhancing desirable qualities in their children. But this wish goes hand in hand with the desire to impose control over who can marry, who can procreate and who is permitted to live. In the Victorian era, in the shadow of Darwin's ideas about evolution, a new full-blooded attempt to impose control over our unruly biology began to grow in the clubs, salons and offices of the powerful. It was enshrined in a political movement that bastardised science, and for sixty years enjoyed bipartisan and huge popular support. Eugenics was vigorously embraced in dozens of countries. It was also a cornerstone of Nazi ideology, and forged a path that led directly to the gates of Auschwitz. But the underlying ideas are not merely historical. The legacy of eugenics persists in our language and literature, from the words 'moron' and 'imbecile' to the themes of some of our greatest works of culture. Today, with new gene editing techniques, very real conversations are happening - including in the heart of British government - about tinkering with the DNA of our unborn children, to make them smarter, fitter, stronger. CONTROL tells the story of attempts by the powerful throughout history to dictate reproduction and regulate the interface of breeding and society. It is an urgently needed examination that unpicks one of the defining and most destructive ideas of the twentieth century. To know this history is to inoculate ourselves against its being repeated.
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