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Rating: 
Summary: A Cavil
Review: I enjoyed this book enormously and learned a great deal about homosexuality and genetics. I especially appreciated Chandler Burr's letting the researchers speak for themselves, and got used to his (and their) not crossing all the t's and dotting the i's when discussing not-simple subjects. But I was absolutely astonished (and dismayed) by a statement on page 275 by one of those researchers, David Botstein ("of Stanford"), having to do only indirectly with homosexuality. (Burr writes): ". . .consider the search for the gene (sic) for violence." (Botstein picks it up): "I think there's more scientifically to that one, a greater likelihood of finding it, more than IQ. But it's COMPLETELY unacceptable at the moment. You can't even talk about it. Go to any university, research center, no one -- NO ONE -- will talk to you about this. Why? Simple. Because of the fear that there will be a racial correlation. And there could be. . .and I have some sympathy for this fear, mean (sic) that any scientific evidence linking some undesirable trait with black people will be used as an excuse for explicit or implicit genocide. Okay? That fear is not totally irrational. . ."
Geneticists everywhere are afraid of finding a gene for violence in BLACK PEOPLE? Haven't they heard that serial killers are all white? Or that blacks overwhelmingly kill blacks (or what? violence genes specify the color of victims?). And that's just biology, not history. Start with a representative year -- 1095, the year of the First Crusade -- and go to the Thirty Years War from 1618-48, a representative war coinciding with white Europe's early consolidation of its systematic and worldwide murder of Africans for profit. FORGET the subsequent 350 years of steadily increasing white violence and consider just the 550 years of Great White Violence dating from the middle ages, extending westward from white Russia to white America's eastern shores, and extending eastward to white Portugal's Indian empire. A gene for violence IN BLACKS. Indeed! Presumably most geneticists working on DNA are white. And presumably in America a lot of geneticists are infected with the same myth-viruses as the mainstream public at whom corporations direct their advertisements and programming. But good golly, miss molly!! NO university or research center will talk about the gene for violence? I say let the chips fall where they may. Knowledge is knowledge. And as a white I'm not much concerned that blacks will want to take eugenic measures against me once research shows it is whites who have a violence gene. Such measures would constitute violence, you see, and blacks would lack the genes for it.
Rating: 
Summary: "REMOVE THEIR BRAIN!"
Review: NEGATIVE REVIEW: Burr mentions Hamer's 1993 study. As far as I know, not only has the study not been replicated, attempts to do so have found no marker. By itself, Hamer's study is not sufficient enough to show a genetic etiology of homosexuality. Burr basically ignores bisexuals in his book. Bisexuals are very real however, and not just gays in denial. Burr leaves out a lot of data on homosexuality in the animal kingdom, which would further his case of a biological etiology of homosexuality. The failure to discuss such data, in my opinion, was foolish of Burr (who is no fool [see positive review], which is why I am confused and upset about this) Though the book does mention some animal data in "Definitive Proof that Homosexuality Is Biological" and "Biological Archaeology." POSITIVE REVIEW: Chandler Burr's intelligence is intimidating. The section "Definitive Proof that Homosexuality is Biological" is interesting by itself, but becomes mind-blowingly fascinating when Burr discusses "penatrance" (genetic discussion) nearing the book's end. The way the book comes together in various places is amazing. Burr was criticized by a book reviwer (different website) for providing massive amounts of information that were allegedly "irrelevant". However, Burr obviously just trying to help his readers grasp the complexities of genetics. Burr's section on "Biological Archaeology" has remarkable, as well as distrurbing discussions on the issue of "change." The section presents very, very compelling evidence that homosexuality is immutable (cannot be changed through ANY form of "therapy"). Burr quotes a famous sex researcher from Johns Hopkins University named John Money. Money said, "your sexual orientation is something you've got, you've got it for good, and you'd better get used to it." Money was asked how someone's sexual orientation could be changed. Money replied by saying, "Simple! Remove their brain!" In summary, I recommend buying Burr's book. But I must warn you, the book is often very technical at times, to a headaching degree :P
Rating:
Summary: Five stars because they won't let me give it ten
Review: This book is wide ranging, covering topics as diverse as handedness (and how to tell if a rat is left handed), bird songs, vision problems in siamese cats, and far, far more than I ever wanted to know about the reproductive tract of hyenas. It all comes together beautifully, scientific explanations simple enough to be understood by the layman but thorough enough to insure understanding. It is also a fascinating look at genetic research at the end of the 20th century, and how technical problem are sometimes easier to solve than political ones.
Buy it, read it, loan it to family and friends. Give it to anyone who still thinks that sexuality is a choice. The only thing wrong is that it's gone out of print, but I hope that's because the author is preparing a second edition.
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