{"product_id":"the-seeds-of-life-9780465082957","title":"The Seeds of Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eWhy cracking the code of human conception took centuries of wild theories, misogynist blunders, and ludicrous mistakes\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Throughout most of human history, babies were surprises. People knew the basics: men and women had sex, and sometimes babies followed. But beyond that the origins of life were a colossal mystery. \u003ci\u003eThe Seeds of Life\u003c\/i\u003e is the remarkable and rollicking story of how a series of blundering geniuses and brilliant amateurs struggled for two centuries to discover where, exactly, babies come from. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Taking a page from investigative thrillers, acclaimed science writer Edward Dolnick looks to these early scientists as if they were detectives hot on the trail of a bedeviling and urgent mystery. These strange searchers included an Italian surgeon using shark teeth to prove that female reproductive organs were not 'failed' male genitalia, and a Catholic priest who designed ingenious miniature pants to prove that frogs required semen to fertilize their eggs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A witty and rousing history of science, \u003ci\u003eThe Seeds of Life\u003c\/i\u003e presents our greatest scientists struggling-against their perceptions, their religious beliefs, and their deep-seated prejudices-to uncover how and where we come from.","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51391832981809,"sku":"9780465082957","price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0787\/2420\/2801\/files\/O_21a31b63-d7df-409a-97ac-5559ce93b834.jpg?v=1763983020","url":"https:\/\/pageaday.com\/products\/the-seeds-of-life-9780465082957","provider":"Page-A-Day","version":"1.0","type":"link"}