Extremely good.

This was a helpful book split into two parts where the first covered the history of Eugenics and how it was used in political and social movements and the second part on the more contemporary, and pernicious, ways it's used in society today. I like how Rutherford has a good balance of explaining the hard science in a way that's easily digestible, while also addressing the more nuanced and complex ethical lenses.

Brief. I wanted more, and I didn't really learn anything new in this. However, Rutherford gives a competent overview.

Rutherford does a great job at highlighting the history and future of eugenics. I think it's really valuable to see how pre-war eugenics was largely spearheaded by affluent British and American personalities. Many of them went on to create the organizations and policies that inspired Nazi Germany. Ironically, those judging the wartime atrocities had previously condoned the policies themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed the second part of the book that goes on to differentiate gene editing from gene modification and introduces emerging technology that will create new ethical dilemmas surrounding eugenics.

A terrible business, but important to know lest we let it fade to distant memory destined to repeat.


Just would have like to have more than the same few items on repeat for the entirety of the book.

Two star history; four star contemporary section. Discusses that it is discussing politics more than it feels like it is political. Gets into a lot of why eugenics is pseudoscience, which makes it highly useful.

Well written, accessible, really grim but fascinating.

Oddly glib and disappointing. The gravity of genetic manipulation and its dark history is fascinating, if grim, and Rutherford is extremely well-researched and capable of sharing that story. What I took issue with was his tone throughout, which was maybe a little on the cheeky and "isn't this crazy" side, which completely undermines the book's more complex and admittedly undigestible depiction of the evils of eugenics and how they impacted (and continue to impact) humanity as a whole. Shrug.