I.D.

by Winifred Gallagher

Weaving together the findings of a highly diverse group of scientists - geneticists and psychoanalysts, neuroscientists and primatologists - Winifred Gallagher shows how cutting-edge research is unlocking the secrets of human individuality. It's now clear that we are each born with a certain temperament that pushes some people toward the adrenaline highs of race-car driving, the introspection of the writing life, or the socializing of the campaign trail. This disposition isn't just "psychological," but physiological, too; a unique mind/body identity. But, as I.D. stresses, acknowledging personality's genetic roots makes it all the more imperative that we understand the role played by environment - not only because it's powerful but also because, unlike our genes, we can do something about it. Indeed, science's ancient definition of temperament as inborn is currently being rewritten as new research shows that our life experience can be literally as well as figuratively engraved in our n