There have been many books on the human genome project, most of them providing the same potted introduction to genetics, discussion of the uninteresting technology of the project along with an often banal and/or superficial treatment of the profound medical, social and political implications of the new knowledge of human genetics. This book is written by an eminent philosopher rather than a scientist, and its treatment of these implications (which are in many respects more interesting than the actual science of the project) is its main focus.