Genome

Matt Ridley, a British science writer trained in zoology, tells the human story through its genes, with one chapter for each pair of chromosomes. The sex chromosomes share a chapter placed between 7 and 8, so the numbering ends at 22, a format Ridley borrowed from Primo Levi's The Periodic Table. Each chapter uses one gene to open a theme: Huntington's disease for fate, asthma for environment, a claimed gene for intelligence, language for instinct. He also covers early geneticists from Mendel to Crick, the selfish gene and eugenics. Published in 1999 by Fourth Estate, it won praise in Nature and The New York Times, while the London Review of Books objected to its political slant.

Mark Zuckerberg chose it for a history of humanity told through genetics rather than sociology. Charlie Munger called it a fabulous book with fascinating figures, and Naval Ravikant highly recommends it among evolution and science books.