CHANCE IN THE HOUSE OF FATE: A NATURAL HISTORY OF HEREDITY (Houghton Mifflin, 2001)
Selected as a Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 2001
A natural history of humanity as seen through the lens of our genes and cells, this book explores the ways in which humans are genetically linked to every part of the natural world. The book offers a personal tour through the surprising turns of heredity, informed by the ways genetic inheritance has affected Ackerman’s own life. From a younger sister’s profound mental retardation and her mother’s cancer, to the births of her own healthy daughters, Ackerman reveals her own experiences as telling touchpoints, ultimately illuminating the hidden biological connections among all forms of life.”
Praise/reviews
“Fascinating…tying together the famous and the forgotten, the microscopic and the vast.”
“A beautiful story of the natural world that will inspire and educate.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
“A poetic view of heredity... a grand literary experiment.”
— Science
“An amazing look at how we got where we are . . . An ambitious book . . . a beautiful book.”
— Chicago Tribune