Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity
by Jennifer Ackerman
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used Very Good/Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0618082875
- ISBN 13
- 9780618082872
- Seller
-
Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
In the last few years, a startling new message has emerged about our biology. Scientists probing the deep workings of organisms have discovered that all living things, from yeasts to worms to humans, are guided by similar genes and proteins, which have passed down nearly intact for hundreds of millions of years. At the most fundamental level, humans are genetically linked to every part of the natural world. The award-winning science writer Jennifer Ackerman brings these astonishing discoveries together for the first time, weaving a mesmerizing story of heredity that is only now being understood. Far more than a report from the field, CHANCE IN THE HOUSE OF FATE offers an encompassing vision of what these unities mean for our everyday lives. Ackerman's remarkable skills of description lend wonder and awe to the striking connections between our microcosmic makeup and the macrocosm of the visible world. Her voice is rich in imagery and poetry, vivid and deeply personal. Pregnant with her first child, she anxiously calculates the odds that her baby will inherit the gene that caused her younger sister's profound retardation. Illuminating the science of cell growth, she describes the heartbreaking cancer that claimed her mother's life. Carrying her daughter on her hip at the crack of dawn to observe the millennial orbit of a comet, she contemplates the universal circadian rhythms that measure the passing of time. "This is the alchemy of art with solid science -- the real thing," said Edward Hoagland in praising Jennifer Ackerman's NOTES FROM THE SHORE. Her new book is a magnificent addition to both science and literature.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Firefly Bookstore LLC (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 260431
- Title
- Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity
- Author
- Jennifer Ackerman
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0618082875
- ISBN 13
- 9780618082872
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Company
- Place of Publication
- Wilmington, Massachusetts, U.s.a.
- Date Published
- June 2001
- Pages
- 272
- Bookseller catalogs
- Science/Biology;
Terms of Sale
Firefly Bookstore LLC
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives mis-described or damaged.
About the Seller
Firefly Bookstore LLC
About Firefly Bookstore LLC
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....