The Excitement and Fascination of Science: Reflections by Eminent Scientists (review)

well be that his vigorous and articulate stands are partially responsible for the fact that science and academic scholars remain as free as they are in 1990. The Excitement andFascination ofScience: Reflections by Eminent Scientists. Vol. 3, pts. 1 and 2. Compiled by Joshua Lederberg. Palo Alto, Calif.: Annual Reviews, Inc., 1990. Pp. 2,317. $90.00. Teaching potential scientists has become less humanistic as more information has to be presented in shorter semesters and quarters. Students are infrequently informed about the eminent scientists whose names identify an observation, experiment, or concept. When my students interested in more than accumulating facts ask how these scientists achieve eminence, I refer them to a prefatory chapter in a pertinent volume of the Annual Reviews. In these chapters, senior scientists often use autobiography to present views of the development of their disciplines during long careers and personal involvement. The Annual Reviews previously published two volumes of prefatory chapters. In the third volume, TL· Excitement andFascination ofScience: Reflections by Eminent Scientists, 106 scientists representing 16 disciplines in the biological and physical sciences present their unique backgrounds, experiences, contributions and views of their disciplines. The chapters glow with the excitement of discovery and, after long careers, the scientists are still fascinated with their disciplines. I had the distinct impression that almost all were pleased with their career choices. No lecturer can match the flavor of these autobiographies that illuminate dry textbooks. This collection should be in every college and university library as required reading for undergraduates interested in a scientific, and perhaps academic, career. E. D. Garber Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 60637 Genes andEmbryos. Edited by D. M. Glover and B. D. Hames. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Pp. 228. $59.00; (paper) $38.00. Two factors have been responsible for the explosive advances in developmental biology, née embryology: (1) rapid progress in the technology of molecular biology and (2) the isolation ofdevelopmental mutants in genetically favored species. Genes and Embryos considers only four species to present the latest advances in developmental biology. Two species with numerous developmental mutations are a nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans) and a fly (Drosophila mefanogasUr ). One has only a few such mutations, a mammal (the mouse). Technical advantages are responsible for the attention given to an amphibian (Xenopus laevis). Two chapters are devoted to the fly, the genetically most sophisticated species, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 34, 2 - Winter 1991 \ 305 ...