⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genius Factory by Plotz

Full Title	The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank
Authors	David Plotz
Year Published	2005
Date Read	February 24, 2025
Rating	4/5 stars

I read this on the recommendation of Gwern, who gave the book four stars. I agree with his assessment. As someone who recently went through freezing his own sperm (thank you Legacy, Carrot, and Stripe benefits!), this was an interesting companion piece that not only discusses this specific sperm bank but also goes over a brief history of banks in general. Learning about the history of Robert Graham, as well as a few of the donors to the bank that Plotz was able to uncover (and meet with!) was very cool. And despite it currently being trendy to say the opposite, the book further convinced me that nurture is more important than nature.

The book also does a good job of weaving some narrative elements that focus on specific families and their relationship with the donors they are able to uncover. As a short read, I think I’d recommend it to most.

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