The power of genes - The Intelligent Genome
Are we really unique in evolution?
Nature or Nurture? Do our genes or environment determine our behaviour?
Throughout history, scientists have found many answers to this provoking
question, not only influencing disciplines like biology or sociology but also
ethical-political discussions. What is it that manifests our position in life?
The Intelligent Genome, a new book just published by Springer-Verlag, throws
astonishing light on the subject. Mankind is no longer the omnipotent creature
standing out from the rest of the species, but just one more link in the long
chain of biological evolution. Burying the myth of the human miracle, the author
Adolf Heschl goes beyond any known theories. The intelligence, once the
distinguishing feature of mankind, turns out to be as much predetermined by the
genetic make-up as any morphological characteristic.
In a clear-cut scientific approach, Heschl claims that intelligence, although
individually shaped throughout life, already pre-exists in the genome. As a
result, we are unable to learn something really new and only free to decide how
to apply our knowledge pattern to the changing environment. This statement is
enormous. It is not nature or nurture. It is nature that explains nurture.
The author analyses theories of scientists such as Darwin, Lamarck or
Weismann, at the same time taking a highly critical look at his own point of
view. Following the road of mankind, the reader is taken on both an ambitious
and entertaining journey.
The renowned biologist Adolf Heschl has done research in the field for many
years. Since 1996 he has been Executive Manager at the Austrian Konrad Lorenz
Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Altenberg.
Adolf Heschl The Intelligent Genome Translated from German 2002. Hardcover,
362 pp. £24.50; $49.95; Euro 39.95 (net price) ISBN 3-540-67166-8
Contact: Bettina Hauser Tel. +49-6221-4878129 or FAX +49-6221-4878141
(in Germany), or e-mail: Bettina.Hauser@springer.de
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