The Code of Life
Carla Häfner and Mieke Scheier
Flying Eye Books


The author of this fascinating book opens with a look at the history of genetics beginning as you might expect with the work of the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel in the 19th century. One of the first to experiment with cross-pollination, he used pea plant varieties with different colour flowers, meticulously writing down all his findings. It wasn’t until after his death that the importance of his work was recognised and he became known as the ‘father of genetics’.


From Mendel to Crick and Watson and beyond, via Darwin and evolution, this remarkable book charts the journey of scientists to unlock to secrets of life and where that journey may take us into the future.

The work of these and numerous other pioneers in the field and their discoveries in the fields of chromosomes, genes, cell division, the DNA double helix and much more, are recounted and explained. Everything is elucidated clearly in an engaging manner and supported with a wealth of visuals, both diagrams and illustrations; and there’s a page at the end encouraging readers to do some research of their own (answers supplied).


A high quality publication and one I would strongly recommend for older readers.