Twins: GENES, ENVIRONMENT AND THE MYSTERY OF IDENTITY - LAWRENCE WRIGHT

Twins: GENES, ENVIRONMENT AND THE MYSTERY OF IDENTITY - LAWRENCE WRIGHT

Book overview A brilliant and thought-provoking examination of how the study of twins informs our understandings of free will, individual identity and human nature. How do we come to be who we are? How free are we to decide on the direction of our lives? Given the moral injunctions against experimenting on humans, the experience of twins, identical in their genes, upbringing or both, are crucial evidence in answering these questions. Lawrence Wright's brilliant book looks at twin research and shows how it increasingly illuminates our understanding of the old nature ir nurture, genes or environment debate. Twins is a remarkable piece of science writing, and 1 of the best and most accessible examples of how Darwinian ideas, evolutionary psychology and mosern genetics are illuminating human nature.