RCIScience’s Summer Book Club kicks off with a timely exploration of the relationship between Science and Race in Angela Saini’s book, Superior: The Return of Race Science.
Join us on YouTube for a conversation between author Angela Saini and Canadian researcher Dr. Krishana Sankar.
Note this event will not be recorded.
About the Book
Superior tells the disturbing story of how belief in biological racial differences persists in the world of science.
After the horrors of the Nazi regime in World War II, mainstream science turned its back on eugenics and the study of racial difference. The vast majority of scientists and scholars disavowed these ideas, yet some managed to survive in the way scientists thought about human variation and genetics. Dissecting the statements and work of contemporary scientists, Angela Saini shows us how, again and again, even mainstream scientists cling to the idea that race is biologically real.
As our understanding of complex human traits grows, the hope of finding simple genetic differences between “races” which might help explain differing rates of disease, poverty or test scores, or simply to justify cultural assumptions, stubbornly persists.
Superior is a rigorous, much-needed examination of the insidious and destructive nature of race science — and a powerful reminder that, biologically, we are all far more alike than we are different.
About the Author
Angela Saini is an award-winning British science journalist and broadcaster. She presents science programmes on the BBC, and her writing has appeared in New Scientist, The Sunday Times, National Geographic and Wired. Her latest book, Superior: the Return of Race Science, was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and named a book of the year by The Telegraph, Nature and Financial Times. Her previous book, Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong, has been translated into thirteen languages. Angela has a Masters in Engineering from the University of Oxford and was a Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About the Moderator
Dr. Krishana Sankar completed her PhD at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine, improving islet transplantation - a treatment for diabetes. She is the co-founder for the Women of Colour in STEAMM Canada (WoCScan), a grassroots organization that advocates for minorities in Canadian Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and Medicine. Currently, Krishana is the communications lead and operational strategist for COVID-19 Resources Canada, a centralized hub of resources and expertise for the research and development community and information hub for the non-expert public.
Praise for Superior
“A well-argued, timely, sobering wake-up call for those who believe science is always objective and apolitical. Highly recommended for academic researchers, journalists, and general science readers alike.”
— Library Journal, Starred Review
“[A] brilliant critique of ‘race science’ . . . this is an important and, in an era of rising racial tensions, must-read book, especially for those most sure they do not need to read it.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Superior: The Return of Race Science makes the compelling case that scientific racism is as prevalent as it has ever been, and explores the way such backward beliefs have continued to evolve and persist. And it couldn’t be more timely.”
— Bitch
Find a Copy
We invite you to acquire a copy of Superior from your local library, or consider supporting local Black-owned bookstores in Canada.