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From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

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

Sam Kean

Start date: December 1, 2015

Finish date: December 31, 2015

Discussion: Book Club 2015

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Book Club 2015

* December 2015 - Violinist's Thumb
By Betsy , co-mod · 32 posts · 87 views

last updated Jan 11, 2016 06:55AM

* November 2015 - Being Mortal
By Betsy , co-mod · 55 posts · 111 views

last updated Jun 25, 2016 03:15PM

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What Members Thought

Dec 13, 2015 aPriL does feral sometimes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, science

'The Violinist's Thumb' is a perfect read for girding up one's loins for holiday dinners where lots of family members plan to attend. Not only are the stories the author relates of the foibles and craziness of world-famous scientists who were involved in knowledge about DNA give one preparation for facing down your more ordinary intolerable relatives, the chapters which actually explain DNA may provide insight on why you can't stand some blood relations. Body smell which repels you might be due 'The Violinist's Thumb' is a perfect read for girding up one's loins for holiday dinners where lots of family members plan to attend. Not only are the stories the author relates of the foibles and craziness of world-famous scientists who were involved in knowledge about DNA give one preparation for facing down your more ordinary intolerable relatives, the chapters which actually explain DNA may provide insight on why you can't stand some blood relations. Body smell which repels you might be due to MHC chemistry. Those siblings you have called 'Neanderthal' since you were teens might actually be one.

Sam Kean provides ample evidence humans, and even scientists, are genetically amazing in how we duplicate, develop and express our DNA and connected processes.

However, our faith in civilization may be misplaced. Kean makes it obvious, particularly from the way some of these scientists behave, that whether we are smart or stupid, civilization, affection and manners are abstract concepts. The famous 'scientific method' might trigger more personal animus in action than is usually acknowledged. It looks to me like The Method is behind many of the murderous feuds and competition! The personal stories of the scientists as told by Kean, which occasionally led to their discoveries, or led, eventually, to the acceptance of their discoveries, are sometimes pathetic, sometimes terrible, sometimes hilarious.

As amazing discoveries about DNA are being revealed, some only in the last 20 years, how our biology works at the molecular level is fantastic. We ordinary mortals read in Kean’s book what these scientist geniuses are sussing out through their pure intelligence, luck and personal cussedness. Knowing these people put pants on one leg at a time (if they remembered to dress), seeing how the sausage is made, so-to-speak, might deflate our awe to a degree. But scientists are trying to understand the microscopic functions they are able to measure, quantify and prove. It was never more true, as Kean shows, scientists are using logical provable observations and creative insights, building on the work of others, often in the face of withering contempt from their peers. These tough guys can publish their guesses, explorations and conclusions in the face of public scorn, and sometimes public humiliation (twitter storms are minor breezes compared to hatreds between scientists).

I recommend this book as an amusing and illuminating general science read. I watched Youtube videos to help me out with the chapters that describe very detailed, multi-step processes. ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Dec 12, 2014 Jimmy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

The author's parents were named Gene and Jean. That's right: Gene and Jean Kean. What else could their son do but write a book about genetics? And a fun book it is, with some fascinating stories.

There is enough DNA in a human body to stretch from Pluto to the sun and back. There's enough DNA on earth to stretch across the known universe many, many times.

Fruit fly genes have fun names, such as groucho, smurf, fear of intimacy, lost in space, smellblind, faint sausage, tribble (from the Star Tre ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2014 Eric Bingham rated it liked it

I felt like this book fell short of the greatness that I enjoyed in Sam Kean's other book The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. This book was pretty good, and had some interesting insights, but just didn't capture my attention. I felt like a lot of the first half of the book was either very basic stuff that I already knew, or useless side details. There were definitely som interesting parts, but they j ...more

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Jan 30, 2014 Daphne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Lots of information about genetics and inheritance. Many case stories will be familiar to anyone that has read a lot of general science books about evolution, genetics, and the like. Still, a very enjoyable book.

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Aug 19, 2012 Jim marked it as will-buy-ebook-at-lower-price

Sep 29, 2012 Sarah marked it as to-read

Shelves: nonfiction, new-tbr

Oct 06, 2012 Autumn marked it as to-read

Nov 26, 2012 Mike marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 25, 2012 Shadowspawn marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Feb 12, 2013 Brett marked it as to-read

Mar 02, 2013 Trinity marked it as to-read

Shelves: nonfiction, science, nature

May 01, 2013 John Syrinek marked it as to-read

Jul 29, 2013 Chris marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: science

Oct 25, 2013 Keely rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Jan 11, 2014 Greg marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: my-books

Feb 20, 2014 Keely rated it liked it

Shelves: science-all-fields, 2014

Aug 22, 2015 Eric marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebooks-to-read

Nov 08, 2015 James rated it really liked it

Nov 25, 2015 Ashley Driver marked it as to-read

Dec 04, 2015 Franziska Koeppen marked it as to-read

Jul 11, 2016 Shabbeer Hassan marked it as to-read

Oct 31, 2016 Nicola marked it as to-read

Shelves: science-non-fiction-to-read

Feb 28, 2017 Alain rated it really liked it

Shelves: science

Mar 26, 2017 Gogeyi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Apr 08, 2017 Nicola marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 09, 2017 Stacy marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 31, 2021 Lisa is currently reading it

Jul 18, 2021 Traveller marked it as to-read

Oct 24, 2021 Sara marked it as to-read

Apr 21, 2022 Diana Marlowe rated it liked it

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