The peas, of course, are those that Gregor Mendel (1822-84) experimented with to produce the first draft of modern genetic theory. Curious as to why the male calico cat she had acquired by chance was so rare, Gould began looking at the underlying genetics, and discovered that modern scientists have a much more complex understanding of inheritance than Mendel's thinking, and than popular media would have people believe. The first edition was published by Copernicus in 1996; she has added an addendum for the second. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The Vets Turn Pale. . . George, a male calico, was a genetic anomaly, a manifestation of something that isn't supposed to happen, a creature so rare that even most veterinarians have never seen one. His curious existence sparked Laura Gould's long search through the archives of genetics to unearth the charming and valiant roles played by early cat geneticists, as well as cats themselves, in the study of genes and how they work. For everyone with an interest in cats and cat breeding, this is an unforgettable and often hilarious account of the intersecting lives of cats and geneticists.
The field of genetics has exploded since 1992, when the first edition of Cats Are Not Peas was completed. Thus a lengthy Addendum is included in this new edition, providing the reader with the terminology and concepts needed to understand two burgeoning new areas in which cats have again had significant roles to play---the sequencing of genomes and the production of clones. These descriptions allow you to view with increasing wonder the world around you and to think seriously about whether you would like to have your personal genome mapped or your cat cloned, both of which are now possible (if you can afford it).
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