Happenings and Hearsay: Experiences of a Biological Anthropologist (review)

The 20th century witnessed a plethora of development and innovative breakthroughs in the field of human biology, particularly in the areas of human genetics and molecular genetics. At the turn of this century, Gregor Mendel's pea-breeding experiments and the basic laws of heredity were rediscovered. This rediscovery was followed in rapid succession by the development of Hardy-Weinberg-Castle genetic equilibrium, the formulation of the synthetic theory of evolution, the breaking of the genetic code, and the sequencing of the human genome. The field of physical anthropolgy underwent a parallel, but not as dramatic, metamorphosis—from a primarily descriptive, anatomically-oriented discipline to a more process-oriented discipline. Practitioners of the "old physical anthropology," measured human crania in every conceivable way and classified races on the basis of their typological characteristics. Practitioners of the "new" physical anthropology, or "biological anthropology" focused on the evolutionary mechanisms underlying observable morphological and genetic variation. Gabriel Ward Lasker's professional career bridged these major conceptual revolutions in biological anthropology and genetics. He was also intimately involved in the development of anthropological genetics through his research on Mexican and Peruvian contemporary populations. This first-hand reportage of historical events and scientific developments in the volume Happenings and Hearsay is a valuable scholarly contribution. Lasker contributed much to the modernization of physical anthropology. Plus, in his capacity as editor-in-chief of the journal Human Biology, he guided the direction of the field while occupying a ringside seat for some of the main events in human biology.

The foreword to this book, by Michael Little, provides the reader with a perspective about the family and the social factors that influenced the scholarship of Gabriel Lasker. Little describes three themes that pervade Lasker's recollections. The first concerns his family milieu. Both of his parents were scientists who instilled in Gabriel an intellectual curiosity and a dedication to the scientific method. The second is his focus on the biological and cultural facets of humanity. In part, this focus on the dual nature of our species came from his parents, one being a biological scientist while the other a social scientist. In addition, his marriage and long-time research partnership with a cultural anthropologist, Bunny Kaplan, has had a profound influence on the direction of his research. The third theme is the development of biological anthropology as a field of inquiry that was intimately intertwined with Lasker's professional career.

Happenings and Hearsay is divided into a preface, 23 relatively short chapters, and an appendix containing an annotated list of Gabriel Lasker's publications. The chapters are arranged by chronology and topic: "Meetings and Congresses" (chapter 16), "Personalities" (chapter 17), "Associates" (chapter 18)—a chapter that transects several time periods. Chapter 1 traces Lasker's family background and provides clues to the intellectual contributions of his mother (Margaret Lasker, a biochemist at the Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx). Lasker's first publication (1936), in Human Biology on the inheritance of an inborn error of metabolism, essential pentosuria, was coauthored with his mother and a hospital clinician, Morris Enklewitz. Thus, Lasker's first contributions to science were in human genetics, a topic to which he returned throughout his lengthy intellectual career. His father, although self-educated, became a social scientist and provided Lasker with a deep sense of social responsibility. His father, while at Nankai University in Tientsin, China, encouraged Gabriel to study Chinese or Japanese, figuring that with such linguistic skills jobs would be available even during the heart of the depression.

In the midst of the depression in 1935, with some financial assistance from his mother, Gabriel Lasker set out on a two-year odyssey to the exotic, but politically volatile Orient. This postbaccalaureate trip gave him an opportunity to meet prominent scholars in anthropology and paleontology and in part was responsible for his choice of and admission to the Harvard University graduate training program in physical anthropology. Lasker's description of his travels through China was of particular interest...