Plotz chronicles his investigations in a new book, the genius factory. In fact, what the media dubbed the nobel prize sperm bank, an appellation that graham enthusiastically adopted, only had one openly acknowledged nobelwinner in its catalogwilliam shockley, the notorious racist who invented the transistorand his donations never resulted in a birth. All parents expect too much of their children, david plotz writes in the. He explained his views in a muscular 1971 book, the future of man.
The bank closed 20 years ago, the kids grew up and some of them found their relatives. Jun 09, 2017 smart news keeping you current the nobel prize sperm bank was racist. Graham, before he started the sperm bank, tried to start a country, grahamland. We talked to one of the products of this experiment, nick, who explained that the result wasnt exactly what graham had in mind. But that february 1980 official debut was the nobel sperm bank s first great day, and. A bizarre tale of the rise and fall of an elitist sperm bank the. May 02, 2016 david plotz says in his book, the genius factory unravelling the mysteries of the nobel prize sperm bank, that it was not uncommon for people to respond to the subject of his book with the assumption that it was a novel.
Its hard to imagine the show being as entertaining as the truelife version in the book. Theres not a lot available in recent years about doron blake, by far the most public of the socalled genius babies. Search for library items search for lists search for contacts search for a library. Telling the full story of the genius factory in genius factory, author and slate columnist david plotz traces the history of a socalled nobel prize sperm bank. A bizarre tale of the rise and fall of an elitist sperm bank. Im 29 and my parents just told me i was donor conceived. The book is as engaging as any good fiction novel except that the. Jun 12, 2005 telling the full story of the genius factory in genius factory, author and slate columnist david plotz traces the history of a socalled nobel prize sperm bank. The genius babies, and how they grew slate magazine. I should confess in the interests of full disclosure that i have pitched stories to david.
In fact, what the media dubbed the nobel prize sperm bank, an appellation that graham enthusiastically adopted, only had one openly acknowledged nobel winner in its catalogwilliam shockley, the notorious racist who invented the transistorand his donations never resulted in a birth. Jul 03, 2005 the genius factory the curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank. There is an old book called the genius bank written by david plotz about the repository for germinal choice known as nobel sperm bank. Plotz 92, is probably the best layaudience book about sperm ever written. Plotz, an editor at slate magazine, has written an engaging and surprisingly funny book about the history of the nobel sperm bank, the men who donated to it, and the more than 200 children it, er, spawned. Muller, a communist, had tried to recruit josef stalin as a donor. The genius factory curious history of nobel prize sperm.
In genius factory, author and slate columnist david plotz traces the history of a socalled nobel prize sperm bank. Be swing gone extra people who dont entry this book. From the former editor of slate and ceo of atlas obscura comes the unbelievable story of the nobel prize sperm bank and the children it produceda superb book about the quest for genius and, ultimately, family malcolm gladwell, author of the. The sperm bank for nobel prize winners the repository for germinal choice, better known as the nobel prize sperm bank, was founded in 1980. Like most attempts to reengineer the human race, the nobel sperm bank failed.
Robert klark graham june 9, 1906 february, 1997 was an american eugenicist and businessman who made millions by developing shatterproof plastic eyeglass lenses and who later founded the repository for germinal choice, a sperm bank for geniuses, in the hope of implementing a eugenics program. David plotz, deputy editor of internet magazine, is writing a book about the nobel prize sperm bank. Twentyfive years ago, southern california tycoon robert k. The curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank kindle edition by david plotz.
The repository for germinal choicenicknamed the nobel prize sperm bank opened to notorious fanfare in 1980, and for two decades, women flocked to it from all over the country to choose a sperm donor from its roster of nobel laureate scientists, mathematical prodigies, successful businessmen, and star athletes. The duchess deal by tessa dare, lord ruin by carolyn jewel, the unwanted wife by natasha anders, the propositi. The genius sperm bank was reviled as a horror and lampooned as a joke, and nobel donors shunned it. The repository for germinal choicenicknamed the nobel prize sperm bank opened to notorious fanfare in 1980, and for two decades women flocked to it from all over the country to choose a sperm donor from its roster of nobel laureate scientists, mathematical prodigies, successful businessmen, and star athletes. This singular book examines the story behind the repository for germinal choicea sperm bank using only donations from nobel prize winners and others of high intellect. How did the 215 children produced by the genius nobel prize. The repository is commonly believed to have accepted only donations from recipients of the nobel prize, although in fact it accepted donations from nonnobelists, also. The curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank audiobook written by david plotz. He riffs that he earned the nickname the semen detective, and later published a book on it, titled the genius factory. He aimed to collect the semen of nobel laureates and impregnate as many women as possible with their superior seed.
The repository for germinal choice was a sperm bank that operated in escondido, california. The genius factory by david plotz overdrive rakuten. This is the inside, neverbeforetold story of the nobel prize sperm bank, the most radical experiment in human breeding in u. Ironic, considering that graham himself walked away with a 1991 ig nobel for the repository. Graham touted his sperm bank in the press as his plan to save mankind. Victoria kowalski was the first nobel sperm bank baby, and her parents sold the story of her birth to the national enquirer. Nobel genes by rune michaels is the story of a young boy whose mother has always told him he was conceived using sperm from a bank of nobel prize winners. The sperm bank idea had originated in the 30s with hermann muller, a nobel prizewinning. Help slate tell the story of the nobel prize sperm bank. Unravelling the mystery of the nobel prize sperm bank. An eccentric millionaire creates a sperm bank with donations from only extraordinary men nobel laureates, an olympic athlete and geniuses with offthechart iqs. Muller repository for germinal choice, after nobel laureate hermann joseph muller was a sperm bank that operated in escondido, california from 1980 to 1999. The sperm bank for nobel prize winners mental floss. Nobel prize sperm bank human tragicomedy about eugenics.
Books about artificial insemination what should i read next. Plotz tries to tell a story about a few people he could locate for the book, he is extremely biased, and he introduced simplistic explanations for results that he found that he did not like to accept. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the genius factory. The tv documentary, genius sperm bank, will be shown on. The curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank, a new book based on a slate project, david plotz recounts his own awkward attempt to become a sperm. He and his mother, afton, have been giving interviews since he was two weeks old. High iq and good looking individuals were recruited, although their claims to being superior specimens would not always hold up years later when they were met by their surrogate children in person.
Book summary describes the recruitment of nobel prize winners and other accomplished men as donors to a sperm bank, whose mission was to. According to its founder, robert graham, it was a response to a problem of dysgenics bright people werent reproducing themselves. It is hard to know what the repositorys creator would have made of his forme. Jennifer waddell, who is seven months pregnant with twins. Plotz would later write a book about his experiences investigating the repository in the book the genius. David plotz talked about his book the genius factory.
Thouroughly researched and documented this book is an account of the sperm bank established by robert graham with the sole purpose of improving the future race by donating the sperms of nobel prize winners and high iq males to the women who were tested for iq beforehand. David plotzs book the genius factory 2005 traces the history of the nobelsperm bank, formally called the repository for germinal choice. The history of the nobel sperm bank is a story of the american bizarre, a reminder of what that culture could accommodate. What kind of guy would conceive a nobel prize sperm bank.
Prize sperm bank and the children it produceda superb book about the quest for genius and, ultimately. All in all, not a single baby ended up inheriting nobel dna, yet 217 kids in total were born from the sperm bank. High iq and good looking individuals were recruited, although their claims to being superior specimens would not always hold up years later when they. The nobel prize sperm bank the sperm bank was established in 1980 by robert graham who was a glass maker businessman. Jul 24, 2007 but when people talk about nobel prizewinning sperm donors, they usually mean the socalled nobel sperm bank. The genius sperm bank was reviled as a horror and lampooned as a joke, and. David plotz says in his book the genius factory unravelling the mysteries of the nobel prize sperm bank that it was not uncommon for people to respond to the subject of his book with the assumption that it was a novel. The nobel prize sperm bank is sort of a beta version of the. The repository for germinal choice originally named the hermann j. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Jun 02, 2005 sometimes the sperm bank seemed a kind of supercharged autograph collection for graham, the book observes. It is also the story of the extraordinary meetings between the children and their donor fathers.
Not surprisingly, the socalled nobel prize sperm bank attracted controversy and accusations that graham was a racist, resurrecting the ideas that gave rise to nazi germany something he. Mar 20, 2017 in the 1970s, a guy named robert graham ran a lab dubbed the nobel prize sperm bank. Each donor was identified in spermbank catalogues by a color fuschia no. The repository for germinal choice, nicknamed the nobel prize. The lesson of the nobel prize sperm bank is that embryos may be tweaked, fiddled with and designed, but children will always be themselves. Eventually graham fixated on the idea of using a nobel prize sperm bank to spread the best seed widely. The genius babies, and how they grew help slate tell the story of the nobel prize sperm bank.
May 01, 2005 plotz, an editor at slate magazine, has written an engaging and surprisingly funny book about the history of the nobel sperm bank, the men who donated to it, and the more than 200 children it, er, spawned. The nobel prize sperm bank was set up to produce a new. Ultimately, the sperm bank became kind of a scam, with women continuing to seek its services based on an illusory reputation that it couldnt live up to. The curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank other editions. In fact, nobel prize sperm bank was the nickname that the initiative quickly gained in the press, according to david plotz, writing in slate. From the former editor of slate and ceo of atlas obscura comes the unbelievable story of the nobel prize sperm bank and the children it produceda superb book about the quest for genius and, ultimately, family malcolm gladwell, author of the tipping point and talking to strangers. The curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank, slate reporter david plotz has penned an improbably wonderful book.
The sperm bank idea had originated in the 30s with hermann muller, a nobel prizewinning geneticist. David plotz traces the history of a socalled nobel prize sperm bank. Overview from the former editor of slate and ceo of atlas obscura comes the unbelievable story of the nobel prize sperm bank and the children it produceda superb book about the quest for genius and, ultimately, family malcolm gladwell, author of the tipping point and talking to. During its 19 years, the repository for germinal choice. But then would you really want a genius for a child. The curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank, david plotz reveals an idea straight from a science fiction novel.
How did the 215 children produced by the genius nobel. I dont have personal experience in this subject but i wish you the best. One of the funniest things about it was its use of colors as code names for donors that and the idea of elderly scientists masturbating into cups in motel rooms or office restrooms while a sperm bank employee waited. This book tells the spectacular story of the nobel sperm bank started by an american enthusiast of eugenics. More than 200 children were born from this sperm bank between 19801999. Plotz tells jennifer ludden of his quest to find the banks genius donors.
It also helped change the fertility industry the repository for germinal choice was supposed to produce superkids from. Founded by robert klark graham, the repository was dubbed the nobel prize sperm bank by media reports at the time. Firstly, the actual condition of the nobel prize sperm bank, secondly, the eugenics history of the u. The curious history of the nobel prize sperm bank by david plotz. In trying to unravel the mystery behind robert graham. Each donor was identified in sperm bank catalogues by a color fuschia no. So it produced no nobel offspring even shockley quit donating sperm. The repository for germinal choice was supposed to produce superkids from the sperm of white high achievers. Jun 25, 2005 david plotz talked about his book the genius factory. What ever happened to the mysterious nobel prize sperm bank. Electronic books genetic aspects nobel prizes graham, robert klark united states sperm banks intellectgenetic aspects artificial insemination, human infobuy the genius factory. He doesnt know who his father is, but he has always felt the immense pressure to live up to him. Graham was a millionaire who set out to create a sperm bank stocked solely with the sperm of nobel laureates.
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