The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition]
Author: | Language: English | ISBN: B00E9D6K08 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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"In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?"
We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they? The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor's training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research. In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle.
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 10 hours and 22 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Gildan Media, LLC
- Audible.com Release Date: August 1, 2013
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00E9D6K08
The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein
"The Sports Gene" is an enjoyable book that shares the latest of modern genetic research as it relates to elite athleticism. In the never-ending quest to settle the debate of nature versus nature, David Epstein takes the readers on a journey into sports and tries to answer how much does each contribute. This fascinating 352-page book includes the following sixteen chapters: 1. Beat by an Underhand Girl: The Gene-Free Model of Expertise, 2. A Tale of Two High Jumpers: (Or: 10,000 Hours Plus or Minus 10,000 Hours), 3. Major League Vision and the Greatest Child Athlete Sample Ever: The Hardware and Software Paradigm, 4. Why Men Have Nipples, 5. The Talent of Trainability, 6. Superbaby, Bully Whippets, and the Trainability of Muscle, 7. The Big Bang of Body Types, 8. The Vitruvian NBA Player, 9. We Are All Black (Sort Of): Race and Genetic Diversity, 10. The Warrior-Slave Theory of Jamaican Sprinting, 11. Malaria and Muscle Fibers, 12. Can Every Kalenjin Run?, 13. The World's Greatest Accidental (Altitudinous) Talent Sieve, 14. Sled Dogs, Ultrarunners, and Couch Potato Genes, 15. The Heartbreak Gene: Death, Injury, and Pain on the Field, and 16 The Gold Medal Mutation.
Positives:
1. Well-written, well-researched book. Epstein is very engaging and keeps the science at a very accessible level.
2. Fascinating topic that sports fans will enjoy. A look at elite athleticism through the eyes of science. Sports elites. I'm there!
3. Epstein does a fantastic job of skillfully handling the very sensitive topic of race and genetics. Any minor miscue and it would have derailed the book but Epstein never lets that happen and should be commended for his utmost care.
4.
Not too many years ago Malcolm Gladwell published 'Outliers,' asserting that the significant differences between so-so achievement and excellence was 10,000 hours of committed practice. (So even I, despite lacking significant talent, can be an NFL star, concert pianist, AND Nobel winner!) Similarly, we've also be deluged with articles contending that anyone can learn most anything, given enough support. Craig Venter, leader in the human genome project, said 'we are all essentially identical twins,' while geneticist Kenneth Kidd stated 'Race is not biologically definable, we are far too similar.' Despite the fact that such assertions fly in the face of common sense and experience (eg. selective breeding of animals, domination of professional sports by African-Americans), such nonsense continues to be perpetrated.
Finally, we have a bit of an antidote in David Epstein's 'The Sports Gene.' His conclusion, after extensive research and objective thought, is that 'it's much easier to have been born genetically gifted.' Establishing that conclusion, however, has taken some time - the human genome was only mapped a decade ago (23,000 'pages'), and single genes usually have effects too tiny to be undetectable in small studies.
Epstein, like others before him, doesn't conclude it's either 'nature or nurture,' but both. The question is, 'How much of each?' He concludes that athleticism is a complex trait with many dimensions, subject to numerous genetic and environment variables and their interactions.
Turns out that 17% of men over 7' and between 20 and 40 in the U.S. are playing in the NBA. This illustrates the ridiculousness of Gladwell's '10,000 hour rule.
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