So far this is an interesting read. Part one of the book deals primarily with the discovery of genetics and one of its key figures, Gregor Johann Mendel, a monk who crossbred peas (and crossbreeding the offspring) and thus discovered that hereditary traits by both parents gets passed on to the offspring. HIs work was groundbreaking, but unfortunately everyone forgot his paper until it was rediscovered in the beginning of the 1900s. From then on discussion about genetics and eugenetics, the notion that it is possible to alter humans to become better and to erase bad traits in humanity, kicked into full gear. The fact that scientist almost instantaneously went for the dark side of the discovery of the genes is deeply disturbing.
Mendel isn´t the only famous person mentioned in this first part. Mukherjee explaines the theories of the greeks, Pythagoras and Aristhoteles, he talks about Charles Darwin and his theories and he takes a look at the man who coined the term eugenetics, Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin.
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