The book sets the scene with Austrian monk Gregor Mendel and follows the history of the science of genetics to Craig Venter, the maverick made famous by the Human Genome Project.

While the authors are not geneticists, their description of genomics is easy to understand, without oversimplifying it, and avoids a lot of the hype that tends to accompany genomics.

But it is perhaps the latter parts of the book, covering topics from genetically modified crops and genetic engineering to DNA databases and human dignity, where sociologist Barnes and philosopher Dupré come into their own with confident and intelligent discussions on controversial topics.