Man and His Future (review)

choneurosb. This led him later in life to the writing ofhb nation-wide daily newspaper column, which has made him a household name and a source of great comfort to the American public because he understands people. Here b the autobiography ofa wonderful man who has devoted himselfto mankind with zest, kindness, and humor. Hb outgoing personality seemed at times almost to lead him to disaster, but never actually did. Hb life should be a great inspiration for those youngsters who are willing to pay the price ofsingularity. Perhaps the most important attribute ofan autobiography b to be honest with yourself. He has been. Irvine H. Page, M.D. Cleveland Clinic Man and His Future. Edited by Gordon Wolstenholme. London: J. and A. Churchill, Ltd., 1963. Pp. v+410. 255. Thb Ciba Foundation volume b the report ofa symposium on "Man and His Future" attended by some thirty biologbts from both sides of tke Atlantic. It contains sixteen papers together with the relevant discussions. The introductory paper, on "The Future ofMan—Evolutionary Aspects," b fittingly presented by SirJulian Huxley, and the last paper, on the "Biological Possibilities for the Human Species in the Next Ten Thousand Years," b given byJ. B. S. Haldane with typical imagination and provocation. Between the contributions of these two stalwarts of social biological thinking, with their long perspectives ofthe history, present, and future ofmankind, are six discussions ofmore restricted scope. Agricultural productivity and diet in relation to world population and human health are discussed by Colin Clark andJohn F. Brock. Clark presents the Catholic view that the sky's the limit and the earth can support forty-five billion persons comfortably and ten times that in a pinch. The control ofmammalian reproduction, particularly human, and the prospects and consequences ofsex control are discussed in a most stimulating fashion by Gregory Pincus and A. S. Parkes. Carleton Coon b equally inimitable in hb account ofthe development ofsocial groups, and Alex Comfort on the longevity ofman. The discussion ofhealth and disease b opened by Szent-Györgyi, who seems, no doubt legitimately, overawed by living phenomena, and, perhaps illegitimately, by the need for wave mechanics as the final key to understanding. H.J. Müller andJoshua Lederberg, on eugenics and genetics, respectively, run true to form, and the same might be said ofHoagland's and Brock Chbholm's dbcussions ofthe future ofthe mind. Much lively discussion b contributed by Medawar, Crick, Bronowski, and Pirie, not to mention the rejoinders ofthe speakers themselves. The main theme b die social effects ofbiological dbcoveries now being made or likely to be made. Altogeuier, the papers included in thb volume offer much food for thought and are sufficiently stimulating and provocative to justify both holding the symposium and publishing the proceedings. The meeting must have been enjoyed by all participants. The aggregate effect, however, is just that: a group of enlightened but diversely opinioned men who individually spoke each in his accustomed tongue. There is no concensus, and 368 Book Reviews Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Spring 1964 thefuture ofmanremainsshrouded bythe mist offuturetime. Vaguetrends are discerned, obvious dangers recognized, but where man goes no one knows. N. J. Berrill McGiIl University Selected Papers ofCharles H. Best. Toronto: University ofToronto Press, 1963. Pp. xix-(723 . $28.50. Sometimes it happens that the creative works ofa productive person are collected and reprinted while their creator or author b still active. When that occurs, in addition to selecting and organizing (so often done by someone else posthumously), the originator can contribute enormously to the value ofthe collection by inserting personal comments of an interpretative and hbtorical nature. He can also put the contributions ofhb colleagues and associates into proper perspective and deal adequately with related contributions of hb critics and contemporaries. Thb b the case, happily, with the chiefproducts offorty-odd years ofphysiological research and teaching ofProfessor Charles H. Best ofToronto. Hb friends and publishers at the university which has always been hb academic home have helped him make a monumental hbtorical contribution to the medical literature by assembling in one large handsome volume about sixty papers which appeared in various publications from 1921 to 1962. Hb wife Margaret, Professor Lucas, and Dr. Ridout...