Reviews
“The Strongest Boy in the World is a wonderful tour of genetics, genomics and stem–cell biology. General readers may find the science a stretch, but the effort will be amply rewarded with a better understanding of some of the most important issues currently facing our society. It isn’t that Reilly gives new perspectives, but rather that he presents a rich, fascinating history and a broad view of the science that seasoned geneticists think about every day. Instruction about basic principles of genetics is minimal, with a ‘knock–out’ mouse being defined in terms of a transgenic mouse, for readers who know what the latter is. Reilly delves into broad fields of biology, society and history, clarifying the idea of ‘race’, but rather muddying the term ‘family’.
For the geneticist, Reilly presents a balanced, positive view of ethical and social issues in genetics, and an entertaining background in history, geography and economics, and the way these fields interface with modern genetics and genomics. I’ve often tried to convince my colleagues across campus that genetics should be a part of every undergraduate’s education. No book makes this case more clearly than The Strongest Boy in the World.”
—Nature
“...Reilly writes well and avoids being slick and superficial. He believes in an ethical reflection on where science takes us. This combined approach makes the book valuable for courses on science and society or ethics. Teachers will mine a rich vein of anecdotes to use in their lectures, and this volume will be ideal to stimulate class discussion.”
—The Quarterly Review of Biology
“I strongly recommend this book both as a source of very interesting material for lectures and also for students of genetics at all levels.”
—Genetical Research
Customer Reviews
This semester, when I taught the course, The Social Impact of Genetic Information, I used as the text Phillip Reilly's new book, The Strongest Boy in the World. The book was an astounding success, as had been Abraham Lincoln's DNA the previous year. What was most amazing to me was the entirely different impact The Strongest Boy had on the semester, compared to Abraham Lincoln.
It was fortuitous that as the semester began, the FDA was getting ready to allow cloned meat into the food supply, without labeling, and I began with articles about this from 25 different sources for my students to read and discuss. Then we read the chapter about the strongest boy, and we discussed myostatin and the effects of the mutation on muscles. This led to an analysis about potential outcomes of a mutated myostatin gene — for diseases, in cattle, and for athletes. Immediately, this powerful chapter made it clear that the issues we would consider would not have clear–cut answers, where one could vote in favor or against the use of a particular therapy.
In retrospect, I realize that this first chapter set the tone for the entire semester. An overarching concern with ethical implications arose as we moved from topic to topic. In looking back, I recognize that the same course last year, with Abraham Lincoln as the text, began with a legal focus, and that theme pervaded that semester! I was quite pleased with the ethical comments of my students, and, for example, was overwhelmed when, after the discussion on race, where we also viewed the PBS video, Journey of Man, students asked, Why do we separate ourselves by race at all?
Thank you, Phillip Reilly, for both books. On the end–of–semester evaluations, students comment about “enjoying” the book, a word rarely used for texts. I will surely use The Strongest Boy as my text next year and am looking forward to see its impact as it allows students to learn about genetic issues they will need to consider in their lives.
—Charlotte Rappe Zales, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Education, Moravian College
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