The Language of Life by George and Muriel Beadle (review)

BOOK REVIEWS The Language ofLife. By George and Muriel Beadle. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1966. Pp. x+242. $5.95. This reviewer has often wondered what the word "understand" means. IfAunt Mary falls off the ladder, I say, "I understand, that's gravitation," though I do not have the slightest idea ofwhat gravitation is. By "understanding," I mean that I can correlate to some experience in my everyday life. I understand Aunt Mary's case because I have seen apples fall before. The machinery of inheritance is extremely involved and built out ofmolecules, exceedingly small units, way below anything in size that I could perceive with my senses. It was not so long ago that Kant, who was considered by many to be the greatest philosopher of the Western world, said that it makes no sense to talk about atoms or molecules at all, for even if they exist nobody will ever see them. So I doubted that genetics could be explained clearly and satisfactorily to laymen who are not soaked with the idea ofmolecules. The authors ofthis book succeed wonderfully, connecting most ofthe features of genetics in a most ingenious way with experiences or components of our everyday life. More than that, everything they say is with a smile, with a trait ofhumor, wlyich makes the reading ofthe book very pleasant and amusing. Moreover, the whole book breathes freshness, the excitement of discovery, one of its authors having been one of the initiators ofthis most heroic chapter of human history: the exploration ofthe mechanism ofheredity. Knowledge, already acquired, can become boring and dry, but in this book it has all the freshness and excitement of exploration. Once you start reading this book, it is difficult to lay it down. Anybody who wants an insight into this chapter of human history without much previous scientific education, and wants also to have a good time, is urgently advised to read it. The contents are not limited to the machinery of inheritance but rest on a wide philosophical basis, and the authors, with a sure step, venture even into fields where a solid foothold is difficult to find, as witnessed by the titles of the last two chapters: "A Look into the Future" and "Some Unanswered Questions." The title of one of the chapters, "Civilization and Growth of Science," gives an idea ofthe width ofscope. But there is even more in this book than knowledge and philosophy. One can feel behind it the ideal companionship of two people which gives it a very special charm. The growth of our civilization depends not only on the growth of science but also its understanding by the great public. So the authors have done more than just write a delightful book: they have rendered a major service to our society. Albert Szent-Györgyi, M.D., Ph.D. Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole, Massachusetts 60s ...