In the continuing media furore over 'designer babies' and the race to complete the map of human DNA - in other words, to identify the individual genes that make us who we are - scientists and commentators rarely use the word that describes this new ethical and technical minefield: 'eugenics'. Since the horrendous experiments of Nazi death camps the word has laboured under a sinister reputation, yet those perverted and racially motivated abominations should not blind us to what eugenics really is: the use of science for the qualitative and quantitative improvement of our genetic constitution. David Galton's superbly clear-headed, sensible and accessible survey of the history, ethics and potential of this much-maligned branch of science makes fascinating reading. From Ancient Greece to Charles Darwin, Adolf Hitler and the Human Genome Project, EUGENICS is a brilliant account of our struggle to change the way we are, and where that struggle might take us in the future.

Almost daily we hear news stories, advertisements, and scientific reports that promise genetic medicine will make us live longer, enable doctors to identify and treat diseases before they start, and individualize our medical care. But surprisingly, a century ago eugenicists were making the same promises. The Science of Human Perfection traces the history of the promises of medical genetics and of the medical dimension of eugenics. The book also considers social and ethical issues that cast troublesome shadows over these fields./divDIV DIVKeeping his focus on America, science historian Nathaniel Comfort introduces the community of scientists, physicians, and public health workers who have contributed to the development of medical genetics from the nineteenth century to today. He argues that medical genetics is closely related to eugenics, and indeed the two cannot be fully understood separately. He also carefully examines how the desire to relieve suffering and to improve ourselves genetically, though noble, may be subverted. History makes clear that as patients and consumers we must take ownership of genetic medicine, using it intelligently, knowledgeably, and skeptically, lest pernicious interests trump our own./div

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Daniel Kevles traces the study and practice of eugenics--the science of "improving" the human species by exploiting theories of heredity--from its inception in the late nineteenth century to its most recent manifestation within the field of genetic engineering. It is rich in narrative, anecdote, attention to human detail, and stories of competition among scientists who have dominated the field.

A concise and gripping account of eugenics from its origins in the twentieth century and beyond.