Control cover art

Control

The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics

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Control

By: Adam Rutherford
Narrated by: Adam Rutherford
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About this listen

How did an obscure academic idea pave the way to the Holocaust within just fifty years?

Why does eugenics still loom large in the 21st century, despite its genocidal past?

Did eugenics work? Could it work? Or was it always a pseudoscientific fantasy?

Throughout history, people have sought to reduce suffering, eliminate disease and enhance desirable qualities in their children. In the Victorian era eugenics, a full-blooded attempt to impose control over unruly biology, began to grow among the powerful and quickly spread to dozens of countries around the world. But these ideas are not merely historical: today, with new gene editing techniques, conversations are happening about tinkering with the DNA of our unborn children to make them smarter, fitter, stronger. Deeply steeped in contemporary genetics, CONTROL offers a vital account of one of the defining—and most destructive—ideas of the twentieth century.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Adam Rutherford (P)2022 Weidenfeld & Nicolson Biological Sciences Evolution & Genetics Genetics History History & Philosophy Racism & Discrimination Science Social Sciences Discrimination Social justice
All stars
Most relevant
Well researched and excellently communicated. Some parts of the topic are extremely dark materials. I never knew some of the details of N*zi rule…

Scicomm at its finest

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I loved how the author was able to be engaging and informative with the breath of the subject he set himself to tackle.

I enjoyed that the author didn’t shy away from stating uncertainty given the cutting edge of science being discussed.

The later end of the book is very important but also very technical and might scare people without a background in science but I think it was presented in a very manageable format.

Genetics made consumable without loosing its nuance

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