David Epstein writes about sports science and medicine, Olympic sports, and is an investigative reporter. The Sports Gene is his first book. It was a top 10 New York Times best seller, and was chosen as a best non-fiction book of 2013 by The Washington Post and Publisher's Weekly.

Runner's World chose The Sports Gene as its book of the year, and the book was a finalist for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, the PEN/ESPN Literary Sports Writing Award, and the National Academy of Sciences Communication Award. It has been translated into sixteen languages.

David has given lectures about the science of high performance on five continents, including a 2014 TED Talk . that was one of the 20 most viewed of the year. An avid runner, Epstein was a member of Columbia's varsity track squad (he ran the 800) and twice earned All-East honors in NCAA Division I.

We will use his TED Talk as an introduction to our first topic: Genetics and Performance:

1. Watch the video- Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger? | David Epsteinto go to the David Epstein video.

2. Watch and listen to the video, taking notes as you go.

3. Compose an initial post to Discussions which addresses the following:

a. How much of an impact do you think improvements in technology and training methods have had on your sport of interest? Give a couple of examples.

b. What genetic factors or characteristics are present in the elite performers in your sport of interest? (I suggest you read the Genetic Connection article by Ken Mannie - see attachment at bottom of page-that we are using for the Written Assignment before you answer this one!)

c. What was the most interesting point in the video for you?

4. The content of your posts should convince me and your classmates that you have watched the video and read the article!