BOOK REPORT:
CATS ARE NOT PEAS: A CALICO HISTORY OF GENETICS
Taylor Bain
BY 366: Genetics
Dr. Dunagan
November 5, 2014
Gould, Laura. Cats Are Not Peas: A Calico History of Genetics (2nd ed.). MA: A K Peters, Ltd., 2007. 291 pp. Hardcover. (ISBN: 978-1-56881-320-2)
Laura Gould’s Cats Are Not Peas: A Calico History of Genetics is the author’s account of her research into the genetics and origins of her rare male calico cat. This book is not, however, a tedious explanation of feline genetics. She includes stories of how the antics of her cats prompted her to write Cats Are Not Peas. Gould states that her research was done in a “nonstandard fashion”, and she writes that, “I was afraid that following the carefully laid out, well-trodden paths of the texts would blunt my curiosity and lull me into believing that I understood things I really didn’t." The author may have set out to unravel the mysteries of her…show more content… In the process of discovering the answers to her initial questions, Gould learns that male calicos have been an enigma to researchers in the past, and that cats have indeed played a role in the history of genetics. She remarks that cats were often difficult test subjects, and says, “They were no competition for Drosophila.” The book’s central theme is about calicos, but there are several chapters that give an engaging historical overview of genetics. In her chapter “Ancient Theories of Sex” she says, “Controversies about the extent of male and female contributions to procreation no doubt began whenever humans first started asking questions, and they continued to rage into the twentieth century.” Gould gives an overview of this history, addressing topics such as ancient Greek theories of sex, the origins of Mendelian genetics, and in the addendum, advances such as genome