BOOKS: Cats Are Not Peas

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

Cats Are Not Peas: A CALICO HISTORY OF GENETICS
by Laura Gould
Copernicus (c/o Springer-Verlag, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010), 1996.
228 pages, hardback, $22.00.

Are there male calico cats, despite
old wives’ tales to the contrary? Why do cats
seem to randomly differ from their presumed
parents? Why do even black cats often bear
dim tabby stripes, at least as kittens?
Laura Gould answers these questions
and many more as she tries to trace the
genetic circumstances that resulted in her
George, a rare male calico cat, who swaggers
through the pages with her, destroying
any air of academic exclusiity.

Gould has earned U.C. Berkeley’s
Distinguished Teaching Award. Her teaching
skill shows in her wit, humor, and ability
to simplify without dimunition. I can see
this book opening young eyes to career possibilitites
that might otherwise never occur.
––Phyllis Clifton