Twins: An uncanny relationship

by Peter Watson

paperback

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Peter Watson was educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome, and was awarded scholarships in Italy and the United States.

After a stint as Deputy Editor of New Society magazine, he was for four years part of the Sunday Times ‘Insight’ team of investigative journalists. He wrote the daily Diary column of the London Times before becoming that paper’s New York correspondent. He returned to London to write a column about the art world for the Observer and then at The Sunday Times.

He has published three exposes in the world of art and antiquities and from 1997 to 2007 was a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has published twelve books of non-fiction and seven novels, some under the pen name of Mackenzie Ford. He lives in London where his interests include theatre, opera and fishing.

Awards, Etc.

Psychology Prize
Durham University, 1961

Italian Government Music Scholarship
Rome University, 1965

United States Government Bursary “for future world leaders”
To study the psychiatric profession and its links to the administration of justice

Books of the Year

Psychology Today Magazine, 1978, for War on the Mind
Daily Mail, 1990, for Wisdom and Strength
Independent on Sunday, for A Terrible Beauty, 2000
Times Literary Supplement, for Ideas, 2005
Time Magazine, for The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
Queen’s Pardon
Copy from Patrick Meehan after I had written a series of articles which brought about his release from prison after he had been wrongly convicted of murder, 1976.

Gold Dagger – Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain
For The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1983

Beacon Award – SAFE Award – Saving Antiquities for Everyone
For The Medici Conspiracy, 2006

US Library Association
The Great Divide.

Emmy Nomination
‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1984.

Best sellers

The Caravaggio Conspiracy
Crusade
Landscape of Lies
Sotheby’s: The Inside Story
Nureyev
Lectures

Peter Watson has lectured at the following venues:

Universities

Cambridge
Berkeley
London
UCLA
Birmingham
Georgia
Georgia
Chicago
Birmingham
Santiago de Chile
York
Madrid
Harvard
Tufts
Military Bases

Fort Bragg
Private Institutions in

Cleveland
Berlin
Chicago
Belfast
Los Angeles
New York
Washington
Boston
Palm Beach
Other venues

Smithsonian Institution
National Museum, Copenhagen
Royal Society of Arts
Rugby School
Royal Library, Copenhagen
Festivals

Edinburgh
Oxford
Dartington
York

Reviews

[Charli Fulton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, published in 1981, has not aged well. It is mostly about the University of Minnesota twin study, which began in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The author reviews anecdotal information and study information about similarities between identical and fraternal twins from the Minnesota studies, compares them to similar twin studies around the world, and tries to calculate the odds of the similarities that are observed to see if there is an “uncanny” twin bond. He concludes that there isn’t by comparing the frequency of the coincidences to the frequency of other rare events such as getting struck by lightning, dying in a car accident, etc. The book is a timepiece, in a way, because it is from a time before genetic research had demonstrated how very many personality traits are genetically determined rather than arising from nurture and learning in the home. Outdated; not recommended.

[Terry Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Twins, then this is the book for you!

Tell Schwarzenegger and DeVito to watch out, we've got some pretty interesting mid-20th century real life stories of twins, many separated at birth, and how they developed uncanny similarities. Take a trip to Minnesota, because it's twinning time.

[Prudence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting peak into the connections, some good and some bad, between twins.