Philip Goldstein (1) (1910–)

This book has been sitting on my shelf for fifty-five years. Actually, shelves, considering how many times I’ve packed and moved in that time. My father brought it home when I was struggling with biology in school. Only recently (better late than never?) has the hunger to understand genetics consumed me. So I picked this up as a way of bootstrapping my way into the subject. The first half of the book was just what I hoped for, giving a historical overview reaching back to experiments before Mendel, then giving a good summary of Mendel’s work, and many references to research on Drosophila (fruit flies). Along the way, it introduced me to many of the key terms—gamete, zygote, allelomorph, and so on.
The second half of the book tended to meander. The edition I read was revised and updated after Watson and Crick announced their double helix model of the structure of the DNA molecule. It’s interesting to read the cautious tone in which this added account included here is written. That touches on the primary problem with the book. It was originally written in 1947, seventy years ago. A thing or two about genetics has been learned since then. It was already on its way to being dated when my dad bought it for me. Since I owned it, it served exactly the purpose I needed it for, but if you don’t already own it, you might be better off looking for a more recent basic introduction.
Another problem with the book is that the second half tends to meander through a catch-all of topics, such as the use of an understanding of genetics in plant and animal breeding. When I tell you that the 225 pages of text are divided into 44 chapters, you can get an idea of the depth with which each of these is treated. Toward the end, four chapters deal with the possible use of genetics to improve the human race. Goldstein introduces the term euthenics to contrast with eugenics. This term denotes the improvement of the environment in which children grow up. He points out that while the genetic disposition to intelligence varies among humans, many lag far behind their genetic potential because of poor nutrition and other environmental factors in early childhood. Also, he points out that many of the traits that we consider “good” in human beings are not genetic, but matters of character and personality. For these reasons, he comes down firmly on the side of euthenics, without rejecting a cautious use of eugenics outright. To read an author named Goldstein treating this in 1947, when news of Nazi atrocities (the nadir of eugenics) was still sinking in, adds poignancy.… (más)