Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are

This was the clear winner of our holiday season gift this year. Robert Plomin is a Professor of Behavioural Genetics at King’s College London, and in this book he explores the latest state of the art in behavioural genetics. The research he explores suggests that DNA has a much larger impact on physiological traits than was previously thought, and most of what we usually think of as ‘nurture’ has, on average, much less impact than we thought. The implications can be pretty profound — and this book led to more interesting debates in the AirTree office than any book I can remember. Especially interesting given four of the AirTree team all had brand new babies this year! And if you haven’t got time for the book — his podcast with Sam Harris is well worth a go.