The Scientific Endeavor (review)

The author ofthis volume does not attempt to choose from the workers at the institute those deserving special note in a summary of its history. Instead, he notes that two general histories ofmedicine, published in the early 1950's, cite between them thirtyoneinvestigations made bythirty-five men andwomen attheRockefeller Institute which the authors thought worthy ofplaces in the long annals ofthe medical profession. The present reviewer chooses to underline the names ofa few whose places in the history of medicine were made secure by their scientific contributions, made either wholly or largely at the Rockefeller Institute. Any such list must include in the front rank the names of Oswald T. Avery, Alexis Carrel, Alfred E. Cohn, Rufus Cole, A. Raymond Dochez, René Dubos, Simon Flexner, Herbert Gasser, A. Baird Hastings, Michael Heidelberger, Karl Landsteiner, Phoebus A. T. Levene, Jacques Loeb, SamuelJ. Meltzer, Leonor Michaelis , Hideyo Noguchi, John H. Northrop, Louise Pearce, Peyton Rous, Florence R. Sabin, Wendell M. Stanley, Homer F. Swift, and Donald D. Van Slyke. The reviewer is conscious of many omissions, attributable to the difficulty in making choices from a list of hundreds of names, but these are names that will be recognized by anyone with some familiarity with the history of the institute. Franklin C. McLean University ofChicago The Scientific Endeavor. With a Foreword by D. W. Bronk and F. Seltz. New York: Rockefeller Institute Press, 1965. Pp. vii+332. $2.50. This book is the record ofthe centennial celebration ofthe National Academy ofSciences held in Washington in 1963—and a remarkable book it is, containing chapters by twenty-three scientists, on the history ofthe universe, the nature ofmatter, the determinants and evolution of life, and the spirit of the scientific endeavor. In each of the four scientific sessions covering these respective topics there is a progression ofideas from the oldest to the newest, from the simplest to the more complex. For example, in the section on the History of the Universe, the individual titles are: "The Origin of the Elements" (W. A. Fowler), "The History of Stars and Galaxies" (J. L. Greenstein), "The History of the Solar System" (F. L. Whipple), "The Origin of the Continents, Oceans, and Atmosphere" (H. H. Hess), and "The Origins of Life" (G. WaId). The treatment is in general terms, with a high standard ofclarity combined with literature references to guide those who wish to read more deeply. In these days ofself-questioning, the chapter on "Science in the Satisfaction ofHuman Aspiration" by 1. 1. Rabi should be universally read by all who arejust entering the scientific life, and by those already concerned with the scientific endeavor who may wish to re-evaluate their goals. "The scientists' satisfactions come in a special form which expresses itselfin the desire to broaden and deepen our knowledge and understanding of all phenomena , but whereas the rest ofmankind concentrates on man, his feelings and desires, the scientist tries to see the world as it really is or might be shorn ofman's perhaps exces312 Book Reviews Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Winter 1966 sive preoccupation with himself. . . . Scientists traditionally are free, untrammeled and individualistic. Each sets his own goals, following his interests. . . . However, the court of highest appeal which is nature itself, is relentless and error cannot long survive. . . . Therein lies one ofthe greatest appeals ofscience, an appeal which makes it capable of satisfying one of the greatest of human aspirations—to be a member of a community which is free, but not anarchical. Science possesses an infinite variety oflimited goals but in the end marches toward a limitless horizon." M. E. Krahl University ofChicago 313 ...