The Making of You: The Incredible Journey from Cell to Human

Even if you happened to learn about embryonic development in your high school science class, you have probably forgotten most of it – not to mention that our understanding of how the human body develops is constantly growing and evolving. This book brilliantly summarizes our current best understanding of how a human grows from germ cell to fertilized embryo to fetus during the nine months of gestation until birth. Along the way, you learn about DNA and genes and proteins, our evolutionary past and near and distant relatives, and a lot about the humble fruit fly. It’s incredibly detailed, really getting into the mechanisms of why, for example, a hand forms when and where it does, or the process that the brain takes from mere neural tube to the densely folded wonder it is at birth; however, the writing is kept at overview level so you don’t get lost in too much jargon. It is all incredibly fascinating, and the author explains it all with infectious enthusiasm, in a clear and straightforward way that is easy to understand even in the details. Anyone who wants to delve deeper will also appreciate the extensive reference section listing several scientific papers and studies to guide your study.