Summary Of The Sports Gene By David Epstein

In “The Sports Gene,” David Epstein analyzes the effect of biology on great athletic abilities. Through the use of various scientific studies about athletic performance, Epstein presents a new take on the nature-versus-nurture debate. The writer uses several anecdotes, studies, and expert quotes from all over the world, in order to make the convincing case that the cause of athletic achievement varies between individuals. The novel presents its case through many in depth discussions on interesting topics, including the way muscle development is affected by genes and how athletic bodies have become more specialized. Epstein describes his own tales as well, including his college running career at Columbia University, his trip to the Arctic Circle,

“The Sports Gene” relates science to the daily life of an athlete as well as relating it to sports no so common within in the American society. This can be seen when David describes the story of Lance Mackey and his sled dogs, who did the unthinkable and won two-thousand mile quests within a matter of weeks. Near the end of the book, the author explains how the world’s small population of Olympic-medal-caliber sprinters makes large involved studies nearly impossible. He writes that “sports scientists have a tortuous path ahead to uncover many of the physical qualities that lead to elite athletic performance...much less the genes that undergird them.” That statement summarizes the intent of the novel. “The Sports Gene” tries to convey the message that the abilities and bodies of athletes are fascinating, but the scientific study that surrounds the subject is nothing short of

Epstein cites many facts and narrates several anecdotes that help support both sides of the nature-versus-nurture argument. For example, David starts of the book by revisiting the story of MLB all star slugger Albert Pujols’s humiliating strikeout against Jennie Finch, an underhand Olympic softball pitcher. He uses this story to demonstrate that developed perceptual skills can overpower natural elite reaction speed. The author then describes the story of him and his college training partner. Both of them started off running at vastly different speeds, but near the end of their college careers they both were able to run the same workouts and push themselves to a similar point. Epstein says that this had nothing to do with spirit and effort, and instead was a result of purely genetics. He speculates that he initially had low baseline ability but a rapid training response which helped him to improve quickly, while Scott started off with a high level of baseline talent but less potential to improve. Epstein proceeds to analyze whether or not practice time is a major variable in separating amateurs from masters. After studying the training of aerobic athletes, Epstein notices that some exercisers make almost no athletic gain, while others increase their aerobic capacities by 50 percent or more. He later found that scientists had discovered more than 20