The Misunderstood Gene. Michel Morange. Translated by Matthew
Cobb. xii + 222 pp. Harvard University Press, 2001 (originally
published as La Part des Gènes by Editions Odile Jacob, 1998).
$24.95. The Impact of the Gene: From Mendel's Peas to Designer
Babies. Colin Tudge. viii + 375 pp. Hill and Wang, first
American edition (originally published in the United Kingdom in
2000 by Jonathan Cape as In Mendel's Footnotes). $27. The
Cooperative Gene: How Mendel's Demon Explains the Evolution of
Complex Beings. Mark Ridley. xii + 324 pp. The Free Press, 2001.
$26. Books about genes seem to have joined the ranks of
cookbooks and doctor books in that there appears to be an
insatiable market for them. But then, we live in the era of
genes—genes for happiness, genes for sadness, genes that can
make us monsters, genes that shape our very culture. There is no
shortage of authors anxious to explain, illuminate and guide us
in our thinking about genes. Unfortunately, just as many new
cookbooks offer only rewarmed fare (old r