Living With Our Genes: Why They Matter More Than You Think

How many of our faults are in our genetic stars, and how many in ourselves? Human geneticist Dean Hamer, whose research team found the popularly termed "gay gene," surveys what is currently known about the inheritance of human behavior and personality. Hamer and science writer Peter Copeland take a calm, broad-minded look at hot-button topics such as sex, drugs (especially tobacco and alcohol), and violence, as well as anxiety, intelligence, and eating habits. Their conclusions are solidly on the side of both nature and nurture: "A DNA map offers possibilities and predictions but not certainty.... Free will is alive and well, and probably genetic."