Taking Care: The Legacy of Soma Weiss, Eugene Stead, and Paul Beeson (review)

with statistically self-similar fluctuations across multiple scales of time. Of interest is recent evidence suggesting that a variety of neuro-regulatory processes appear to possess this scale-free property, including the mechanisms responsible for controlling fluctuations in our heartbeat and blood pressure. This capacity to generate a broadband type of output may make such scale-free systems more plastic and responsive to an inherently unpredictable and capricious environment . Fractal Physiology provides a readable and detailed introduction to the anatomic and dynamical aspects of fractals in biomedicine. Part I gives a brief but systematic overview. Part II describes specific properties of fractals, including different mechanisms for generating fractals involving either deterministic processes (i.e., chaos) or stochastic mechanisms, such as diffusion limited aggregation (DLA). Part III focuses on specific physiologic applications, with an emphasis on ion-channel kinetics, neural excitation, and heterogeneous blood flow, as well as fractal growth mechanisms. The book concludes with an informative and balanced discussion of the controversial topic of deterministic chaos in physiology . These topics should find an enthusiastic audience among biomedical researchers and clinicians wishing a rigorous yet friendly introduction to highly technical (and often misconstrued) concepts, as well as among physicists and applied mathematicians in search of physiologic grist for their nonlinear mills. The nexus of biology and nonlinear dynamics is rapidly emerging as one of the most exciting frontiers in modern science. This book offers a tempting invitation to those who may wish to explore this brave new world of fractal physiology. Ary L. Goldberger Beth Israel Hospital Department of Medicine Harvard University Boston, Massachusetts TITLES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU As a service to our readers whose specific interests span the full spectrum of the fields of biology and medicine, we are providing the titles of and relevant information about some of the books sent to us by the publishers that will not receive full review treatment. Whenever possible we will add a short description of each book. Taking Care: The Legacy ofSoma Weiss, Eugene Stead, and Paul Beeson. By William Hollingsworth. Chapel Hill, NC: Professional Press, 1994. Pp. 331. $16.00 (paper). 142 Book Reviews This book deals with the legacies and remarkable influence of three great teachers of medicine in the United States. Stead and Beeson had been mentors of the author, the former at the beginning of his professional life and the latter at a later stage. Only in his 62nd year did the author learn of the extensive influence that Soma Weiss had had on his two heroes. Weiss died in 1942 at the age of 43, when Hollingsworth was still a teenager, but Hollingsworth's recent research for this book converted him into an apostle of all three. Weiss' legacy of a "magical teacher rests on the reminiscences of his students and colleagues." They continue to respect and revere him, and "fifty years after his death, Soma Weiss remains alive." The author successfully captures the qualities of their "leadership which led them to be successful in guiding their students, residents, and faculty into academic careers, leadership roles, and into the competent and compassionate practice of medicine." Stead (at Duke) and Beeson (at Yale) were key professors during the 1950s and 1960s, when the discipline of academic internal medicine began its "accelerating growth under the impetus of federal funding for research and subspecialty training." They had a "remarkable ability to stimulate young people to become teachers and researchers, prepared to accept responsibility as academic leaders and to create favorable environments for the growth of scholarship and research . They educated a remarkable number of well-trained, highly compassionate young men and women physicians who would remember them and their teachings all the rest of their lives." Besides recording their c.v.'s. and bibliographies, this volume reviews each of their lives, both academic and personal, and their abilities and successes, as well as emphasizing their strong work ethic and sustained self-discipline. Their similarities and differences are well documented. Much of the material is drawn from extensive interviews with former students and colleagues, as well as their family members. This book offers role models for intelligent first-year medical students. Their reading and discussion of the contents would serve...