Told
in the cynical but utterly compelling voice of a man who is waging a private
war against genetic chance—obsessed with identifying the mutant gene
responsible for his own disability—Mendel's
Dwarf is a gripping story of scientific discovery and of the messy blend of
empathy, sympathy, respect, and physiology that comprise love. The stories of a
late 20th century molecular biologist riding the crest of a mature science and
of the mid-nineteenth century father of that science are cleverly interwoven to
examine the limits of human choice, the nature of nature—of normalcy and
aberrance—and the social and political uses and abuses of scientific knowledge.
Along the way, we get a refresher course in classical genetics and historical
glimpses of Gregor Mendel's life and the early twentieth century eugenics
movement. (FMS Gaines)
