Why Us? How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves

Human biology, according to Le Fanu, is the sexiest scientific subject of our age. It is the fusion of humanity and science. "We may be interested in a detached sort of way about how long the Big Bang resounded or how many indissolvable little bits make up all matter, but what people really want to know is why a woman can′t be more like a man [or vice versa], why some people are well and some people are sick. The main question of scientific investigation is what it means to be human". In fascinating chapters such as ′On Being the Right Size′, ′Not All in the Genes′, ′Holistic Biology′, and the big ′Black Holes′ in our knowledge, Le Fanu provides both an historical account of the gradual unfolding of the science of′ ′what it means to be human′ and the essential context for evaluating both the present state of knowledge and the many current controversies (eg: genetic manipulation, cloning, the workings of the human brain... )

ISBN: 9780007120277; ISBN10: 0007120273; Imprint: ; On Sale: 15/05/2009; Format: Hardback; Trimsize: 238 x 160 x 32 mm; Pages: 320; $45.00;