The full title is “A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes “ .  Adam Rutherford is hardly a household name at least here in the US. But I hope it will be a name that people looking for good science writing will remember.

I was browsing NetGalley and the title caught my attention.   The description sounded as if it might be interesting but I was unsure. The “Brief History” bit brought to mind Stephen Hawking’s” A Brief History of Time” and I thought it sounded a bit pretentious.  But once again I misjudged a book.

I only decided to read it because I immediately recognized the name of Siddharta Mukherjee who wrote the foreword. After reading the foreword, I knew I had to at least try reading the rest of this book. After the first few pages of Chapter 1 (Horny and mobile), I was convinced that  I’d keep on reading.   So in this case, one good author is responsible for me reading another.

Briefly, this is an understandable, interesting, and well-written book on the importance of DNA and genes in understanding the history of our species.  DNA has revolutionized our understanding of human evolution and history.

This is science that is well-told and constantly interesting.