Principles of Human Genetics by Curt Stern (review)

patibilities) that are brought about by imperfections inherent in the mode ofoperation of normal immunological mechanisms. However, as his peroration rightly states, "We can, then, improve uponnature" provided thatwecontinue to enlarge ourunderstanding, and he points out that we should not regard the unmodified ways ofnature as necessarily the best for man. What a pity it is that, having accepted this conclusion insofar as it pertains to our cultural procedures, Medawar fails to see its equal relevancy to man's genetic constitution. Is it not evident that these two areas ofour life are so interlocked, mutually dependent and reinforcing, that control over both ofthem is called for in order to enable us to raise our condition as effectively as we would desire and, indeed, even to avoid eventual retrogression and disaster? Surely man is not innately so brutish that he could never be brought to extend his control to his genetics except by a dictatorship. However, today, prejudice and ignorance with regard to reproduction and genetics are so prevalent that Medawar's championing, with such abundant scholarly citations and appendices, of the virtues of genetic mediocrity, will undoubtedly impress and appeal to large numbers. In joining him in the support ofthe ancient reproductive taboos and in the exaltation ofthe status quo, they will at the same time feel, deep within their egos, that they are asserting the superiority of their own mediocrity and their own lack of imagination. Fortunately, however, it is within man's power to transcend himself, and when he awakes to that realization, he will find a new zest and significance in his own living. HermannJ. Müller Indiana University Principles of Human Genetics. By Curt Stern. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman & Co., i960. Pp. ? + 753. $9.50. In 1939 Professor Stern for the first time presented a graduate seminar on human inheritance . I was privileged to be a member ofthat first seminar, and still have my notes. Then, as now, Stern's ability to choose and organize die significant papers was brilliant. But the contrast between what then had to be adjudged significant and the content of human genetics just twenty years later constitutes a striking documentation of the emergence ofone ofthe several most active disciplines in human biology today. Stem's book portrays this emergence as no other work has done to date. It is superb. The firstedition ofthistext waspublishedin 1949. Thepresent, second, editionfollows in general the sequence ofpresentation established then, but with the addition ofsix new chapters to bring the total up to 33. The early chapters are devoted to die inevitable treatment ofthe principles ofinheritance. Then, about midway through, the author in his characteristically lucid style begins to come to grips with a series oftopics, many ofwhich had been lightly touched upon earlier in the book. These include consanguinity effects, sex determination and the sex ratio, the production ofmutations and the genetic hazards ofradiation, the nature-nurture interaction,selection andthe geneticpolymorphisms, and the concept ofrace. Each ofthese chapters is a critical and amazingly current synthesis and review ofmaterial, representing in most instances a thorough revision ofthe corre380 Book Reviews Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Spring 1961 sponding presentation in the first edition. The uniformly high level of scholarship exhibited invites a reviewer to approach this work with unusual care. Dr. Stern has wisely eschewed the temptation to make his book a compendium of medical genetics or a handbook of genetic counselling and has concentrated on principles . Even so, the book stretches 753 pages ofcompact format. The first edition, 617 pages in a looser format, was already more than even the best ofundergraduate or medical classes could cover in the usual semester course. This second edition might be digested by an able class that meets three times a week for a year—but it will keep them busy. Several aspects ofthe organization ofthe book warrant comment. The introduction ofan excellent chapter (No. 3) on the nature ofgenie action immediately after a chapter on the biological basis ofinheritance, but before meiosis or the principles ofgenetics have been covered, illustrates the extent to which considerations ofgene action can be divorced from formal genetics. The subject of genetic counselling is also introduced relatively early as, in a separate chapter...