Nature via Nurture

• Description
• Images (1)

The nature-nurture debate was re-ignited when in February 2001 it was announced that the genome contains only 30,000 genes instead of the 100,000 originally expected. This revelation led some scientists to conclude that there are not enough human genes to account for the many different ways people behave: we must be made by nurture, not nature. Acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley argues that the emerging truth is more complicated than a straight nature-nurture opposition. Nurture depends on genes, and genes require nurture. Genes absorb formative experiences, react to social cues and even run memory. They are consequences as well as causes of the will. This fascinating book chronicles a new revolution in our understanding of genes, and explains how genes build brains to absorb experience.