[ book tip by Lasse Korsemann Horne ] 'The twin barrels of the gun fill almost the whole of his mouth. They're cold and have an unpleasant metallic taste [...] this time the gun's loaded. I hesitate. This is it then, I think. This is where it all ends. Bang!'

So begins Professor Eske Willerslev's popular-science autobiography about his journey from wilderness-bound boy to molecular biologist. From an early age, Willerslev dreamed of being an American Indian, a dream that later manifested itself in the pursuit of the 'simple life' as a trapper in Siberia. However, after an exhausting winter in the wilderness, with Jack Frost nipping something fierce, he returns to Denmark. This is where we find him with a gun in his mouth, hopelessly unhappy. A group of trees swaying in the wind catch his eye, and he realises that he and the trees share the same forefather, that all life on Earth is interrelated. This realisation delivers him from his depression, and he decides to pursue a new dream and new goals by studying biology.

From here on in, the pace accelerates, moving quickly from Willerslev's thesis, which proved that fossil DNA can be extracted from ice cores, to his later career as an internationally recognised scientist. Willerslev elucidates the latest DNA technology with a dynamic and playful narrative style all his own, and touches on subjects such as the possibility of finding life on Mars, and the extinction of the mammoth and Neanderthal man.

There is something liberating about the way Willerslev's account weaves his research and his person into a closely linked double spiral, much like a DNA molecule. It's inspiring to read how he holds on to his childhood dream as a source of inspiration that guides his studies and investigations. Willerslev's life in research has been about innate curiosity, original ideas and new combinations of knowledge – not about the shortest route from 'research to invoice'. If cramming for exams has stifled some of your inquisitiveness, then swing a rifle over your shoulder and follow Eske Willerslev out on an adventure into the Russian taiga.

[ book info ] Willerslev, Eske: Fra pelsjæger til professor. (Book language: Dansk) Jyllands-Postens Forlag, København, 2008 . ISBN: 978-87-792-028-9.