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Superior : The Return of Race Science

By Angela Saini

 599.00 inclusive of all taxes

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About the book

When you see how power has shaped the idea of race, then you can start to understand itsmeaning.For millennia, dominant societies have had the habit of believing their own people to be the best, deep down: the more powerful they become, the more power begins to be framed as natural, as well as cultural. In the twenty-first century, we like to believe that we have moved beyond scientific racism, that most people accept race as a social construct, not a biological one. But race science is experiencing a revival, fuelled by the misuse of science by certain political groups. Even well-intentioned scientists, through their use of racial categories in genetics and medicine, betray their suspicion that race has some basis in biology. In truth, it is no more real than it was hundreds of years ago, when our racial hierarchies were devised by those in power.In Superior, award-winning author Angela Saini explores the concept of race, from its origins to the present day. Engaging with geneticists, anthropologists, historians and social scientists from across the globe, Superior is a rigorous, much-needed examination of the insidious and destructive nature of race science.

Pages: 340

Available in:

Language: English

Angela Saini

Angela Saini is an award-winning science journalist and author of three books, including the critically acclaimed Superior: The Return of Race Science and Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong. Both are on university reading lists worldwide. She presents radio and television programmes for the BBC, and her writing has appeared in The Financial Times, The EconomistWired, National Geographic, The Guardian, New Scientist and Scientific American. She has a Master’s in Engineering from Oxford University and has been a former fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2022 she was a Logan Nonfiction Fellow in New York and a resident scholar at the Humboldt Foundation in Berlin. In 2020 Angela was named one of the world’s top fifty thinkers by Prospect magazine, and in 2018 she was voted one of the most respected journalists in the UK.

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‘A timely and powerful argument for the unity of the human species’ - Sujatha Gidla, author, Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India

‘Deeply researched, masterfully written, and sorely needed, Superior is an exceptional work by one of the world’s best science writers’ - Ed Yong, author, I Contain Multitudes

‘A landmark work that will forever change how we think about race. An unputdownable book and a staggering accomplishment’ - Sonia Faleiro, author, Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay’s Dance Bars

‘A brilliant and timely exposé of the absurdities of race science … a welcome reminder that science is political … I urge you to read it.’ - Gaia Vince, Adventures in the Anthropocene and Royal Society Book Prize winner

‘This is science journalism at its very best!’ - Jonathan Marks, author, Tales of the Ex-Apes: How We Think About Human Evolution

‘An intense, intelligent and compelling investigation into race science. Angela Saini is meticulous and forensic in her debunking of the myths around race and racism’ - Nikesh Shukla, author and editor, The Good Immigrant

‘This beautifully written book will change the way you see the world’ - Jonathan Metzl, author, Dying of Whiteness

‘Angela Saini’s investigative and narrative talents shine in Superior’ - Deborah Blum, author, The Poison Squad

‘None have gone so deep under the skin of the subject as Angela Saini in Superior’ - Michael Balter, science journalist and author, The Goddess and the Bull

‘An important work at a time when the world is divided and dubious racist ideas are gaining wider currency quickly on the Internet, with consequences in the real world’ - Salil Tripathi, author, Detours: Songs of the Open Road

‘An essential book on an urgent topic by one of our most authoritative science writers’ - Sathnam Sanghera, author, The Boy with the Topknot

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