What do you think?
Rate this book
The Common Thread
nan
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
11 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
Georgina Ferry
19 books4 followersBorn in Hong Kong in 1955, Ferry had a peripatetic childhood as one of five children of an army officer. She went to Ellerslie School in Great Malvern from 1966–73, then to Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford: she graduated in Experimental Psychology in 1976.
She worked briefly for a science publisher before joining New Scientist magazine as a section editor. Soon afterwards she began to present science programmes on BBC Radio 4.
She married David Long in 1981. They settled in Oxford, and sons Ed and Will were born in 1982 and 1985. Since then she has worked mostly as a freelance writer, editor and broadcaster.
She worked briefly for a science publisher before joining New Scientist magazine as a section editor. Soon afterwards she began to present science programmes on BBC Radio 4.
She married David Long in 1981. They settled in Oxford, and sons Ed and Will were born in 1982 and 1985. Since then she has worked mostly as a freelance writer, editor and broadcaster.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 8, 2022
This book is more accessible by scientists and researchers than the general, non-scientifically educated members of the public. The author is a highly-decorated scientist and the writing is quite technical and complex, though I imagine that is due to the author's desire for accuracy.
The opening chapters are tough for someone without a decent grasp of basic genetics, I do not have that and so struggled in the early stages and ended up skipping the opening chapters and I understood the rest of the book well enough without them. These chapters could've been simplified or omitted.
It was around the 1/4 point that things kicked off with the history of the project, establishing the Sanger Centre, international cooperation and PR competition with private labs attempting to kill the public project. This is the value of the book--correcting the record and providing the facts on the funding, goals and ethics of genomic research.
The opening chapters are tough for someone without a decent grasp of basic genetics, I do not have that and so struggled in the early stages and ended up skipping the opening chapters and I understood the rest of the book well enough without them. These chapters could've been simplified or omitted.
It was around the 1/4 point that things kicked off with the history of the project, establishing the Sanger Centre, international cooperation and PR competition with private labs attempting to kill the public project. This is the value of the book--correcting the record and providing the facts on the funding, goals and ethics of genomic research.
October 2, 2013
This book started out slow for me, but when it got into the discussion of private vs. public and the ethics of scientific discovery, I was really intrigued. As someone who works in research, these issues were relevant and made me realize the delicate balances in many aspects of society.
June 22, 2022
‘i regret that nowadays we live in a world where we are materially richer but apparently nothing matters except next years bottom line’
August 11, 2011
The inside story of the genome project, complete with the political interfering from both British and US governments, as well as big business attempting to take ownership of DNA itself.
October 28, 2013
The book is interesting. It describes the sciencce and politics that led to the discovery of the human genome. It is written from the point of view of John Sulston, a Nobel Prize winner.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews