Reddit mentions of Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body

Teratology is the science of studying birth defects. It is from this study that we have gained most of our knowledge of foetal development, amongst other things. This book is a great overview of the subject and would probably be of interest to many people here.

Biologist here, get this book if you don't already have it. It's about the genetics & developmental biology of some of the most bizarre human mutations and birth defects. It's well written and absolutely fascinating.

I'm only a premed student so I hope these are up to the standards you're looking for, but I do love reading books. So with that out of the way, check out books by Mary Roach (Spook wasn't as good as the others, and is less medicine-oriented, but it wasn't bad, and the others are marvelous). I just finished reading Spillover, which was an excellent book on zoonotic diseases. Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body was a bit fluffy but also a pretty neat (if shallow) overview of some of the many ways human development goes wrong.

I have a bunch more but they aren't springing immediately to mind. I'll try to remember to find them on my bookshelves and post links later.

The Amputee's Guide to Sex got a few looks. I wish I'd been part of this, but a friend bought me a copy of Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body and horrified the used bookstore cashier. The cashier looked at the cover and asked why she'd want to read something like that. My friend responded that it was a gift and the cashier gave her a "Surrrre.....your 'friend'" look.

Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi really creeped me out.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. The writing is so good you won't care about the squeamish content.

The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum. A perfect blend of a historical retelling and science.

A Treasury of Deception by Michael Farguhar.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks. Short stories of the mentally abnormal patients of Sacks.

My Stroke of Insight by Jill Taylor. Very good insight on what it is like to live with, and recover from brain damage. Also talks science about parts of the brain as a nice intro to the subject.

Mutants: On Genetic Variety in the Human Body by Armand Leroi.

And of course,
Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

Headphones

This book that will freak my parents out.


C'mon...gimme

You guys look so nice today. I mean I've seen some good looking folks in my day but damn.

If anyone is interested in genetics, I read a fantastic book a while back that chronicles the history, prevalence, and knowledge surrounding human mutations from very early on until recent scientific discoveries. I often suggest it to my grade 11s and 12s!

Sorry, on my phone:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0142004820

It's been a while since I read it, but I quite liked Mutants. The human body is very strange indeed.

I read a book called Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi that did not directly discuss this but something similar. It's been a few years but if I remember correctly there was a chapter on flies that were bred in two different direction: very sexually aggressive and fertile, or less sexual and fewer offspring. The line that got laid more and had more offspring had a much faster metabolism and heart rate but lived significantly shorter than their less interesting brethren.

I'm very interested in your copies of Your Inner Fish, Anatomy of an Epidemic, and Evil Genes. I would love to be able to take all three off your hands. I have several books that I can offer you in exchange, all of which I've read and highly recommend! What I have that might match your interests are:

• Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body, Armand Leroi
  
  
• We, Yevgeny Zamyatin
  
• Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
  
  
• Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
  
  
• Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
  
• I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
  
  And seeing that you had a Steve Berry novel up for trade, I also have these two excellent Brad Meltzer thriller novels:
  
  
• The Book of Fate, Brad Meltzer
  
  
• The Millionaires, Brad Meltzer
  
  If any of my books peak your interests, I'd love to make a trade!