This very readable overview of the rise and transformations of medical genetics and of the eugenic impulses that have been inspired by the emerging understanding of the genetic basis of many diseases and disabilities is based on a popular nonmajors course, "Social Implications of Genetics," that Gillham gave for many years at Duke University. The book is suitable for use as a text in similar overview courses about genes and social issues or genes and disease. It gives a good overview of the developments and status of this field for a wide range of biomedical researchers, physicians, and students, especially those interested in the prospects for the new, genetics-based personalized medicine.

Few scientists have made lasting contributions to as many fields as Francis Galton. He was an important African explorer, travel writer, and geographer. He was the meteorologist who discovered the anticyclone, a pioneer in using fingerprints to identify individuals, the inventor of regression and correlation analysis in statistics, and the founder of the eugenics movement. Now, Nicholas Gillham paints an engaging portrait of this Victorian polymath. The book traces Galton's ancestry (he was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin and the cousin of Charles Darwin), upbringing, training as a medical apprentice, and experience as a Cambridge undergraduate. It recounts in colorful detail Galton's adventures as leader of his own expedition in Namibia. Darwin was always a strong influence on his cousin and a turning point in Galton's life was the publication of the Origin of Species. Thereafter, Galton devoted most of his life to human heredity, using then novel methods such as pedigree analysis and twin studies to argue that talent and character were inherited and that humans could be selectively bred to enhance these qualities. To this end, he founded the eugenics movement which rapidly gained momentum early in the last century. After Galton's death, however, eugenics took a more sinister path, as in the United States, where by 1913 sixteen states had involuntary sterilization laws, and in Germany, where the goal of racial purity was pushed to its horrific limit in the "final solution." Galton himself, Gillham writes, would have been appalled by the extremes to which eugenics was carried. Here then is a vibrant biography of a remarkable scientist as well as a superb portrait of science in the Victorian era.

3 cutting-edge books reveal the latest genetic breakthroughs – and their implications for you, your health, and your world These three cutting-edge books reveal how modern genetics has already transformed the world – and will transform it again and again in the coming years. Mobile DNA book thoroughly reviews our current scientific understanding of the significant role that mobile genetic elements play in the evolution and function of genomes and organisms–from plants and animals to humans. Renowned geneticist Haig Kazazian offers an accessible intellectual history of the field’s research strategies and concerns, explaining how advances have opened up new questions, and how new tools and capabilities have encouraged still more progress. He introduces today’s key strategies for advancing the field, and previews long-term research strategies that may lead to even deeper insights. Next, in Investigating the Human Genome, leading medical genetics scholar Moyra Smith reviews current and recent work in genetics and genomics to assess progress in understanding human variation and the pathogenesis of common and rare diseases linked to genetics. You’ll discover how these advances are shedding new light on issues ranging from human origins to psychiatric disease, Alzheimer’s to epigenetics. Finally, in Genes, Chromosomes, and Disease, Nicholas Wright Gillham offers an exceptionally readable overview of the rise and transformations of medical genetics – and of the eugenic impulses that it has inspired. From world-renowned leaders and experts, including Haig H. Kazazian, Moyra Smith, and Nicholas Wright Gillham

This readable overview covers the rise of medical genetics through the past century, and the eugenic impulses it has inspired. Nicholas Gillham reviews the linkages between genes and disease; ethnic groups' differential susceptibility to genetic traits and disorders; personalized medicine; and crucial social and ethical issues arising from the field's progress.