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Superbaby’s story is one among a number of tales of athletic irregularity in “The Sports Gene,” a new book by David Epstein, who holds a masters in environmental science but now covers the science of sports for Sports Illustrated. Like a good academic, Epstein weaves a thicket of studies and double-blind tests into anecdotes like Superbaby’s. Beware, those who enter seeking a quick answer to whether or not your son or daughter has an athletic scholarship in his or her future: the book is heavy on talk about stop codons and VO2 maxes and bivariate overlap zones, and short on easy answers. It is, however, long on difficult questions. Can nature predict athletic performance? What about nurture? Is it possible to create a Superbaby from scratch? If we can, should we want to?
The answers, in brief, are “yes,” “yes,” “not quite,” and “ask your conscience.” But a bit of exploration of each proves fruitful.