Cortisone by Edward C. Kendall (review)

BOOK REVIEWS Cortisone. By Edward C. Kendall. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970. Pp. 175. $7.95. This autobiography is not only an account of the life of Dr. Kendall, it is Kendall. All the engaging courtliness, generosity, the controlled combativeness with its accompanying bias, and the veiled self-esteem come forth in this lively account of a scientific life which included two major firsts: the isolation of 'thyroxin , and both the separation of adrenal hormones and the preparation of sufficient cortisone to make possible the demonstration of its effect in human beings. The story begins with his boyhood days in Norwalk, Connecticut, and the early influences which led him to choose chemistry as a profession and Columbia as the college of his choice. There he fell under the influence of Dr. Henry C. Sherman who turned his attention toward the application of chemistry to biological problems. He describes his early encounter widi the prevailing attitude among medical men, not unknown today, that the only real importance of chemistry in medicine was its use as a diagnostic tool. It was at Parke Davis & Co. and at Saint Luke's Hospital, however, that young Kendall first became interested in the thyroid hormone. Then came the opportunity to establish biochemical research at die Mayo Clinic. One tends to forget in this present world how revolutionary an idea this was: for a clinic well known for the diagnosis and treatment of disease to devote a significant portion of its income to basic research. Kendall gives us an engaging account of how Dr. Charles Mayo and Dr. Wilson, director of laboratories, supported the concept of basic research and protected him from attempts to involve him in clinical problems. With this support, the young scientist was able to achieve purification of sufficient amount of thyroid extract to crystallize diyroxin on that famous Christmas Day in 1914. The major portion of die book is given over to his isolation of the adrenal steroids and his final development of a commercially feasible synthesis which made possible the treatment of human beings in odier situations than immediate life-threatening crisis. He communicates die thrill of discovering the beneficial effects of cortisone on rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory processes. The book reaches its climax with the award of the Nobel Prize, and Dr. Kendall has the good sense to avoid a prolonged anticlimax. He brings the story to an end on this triumphal note. The book has a section of illustrations largely given over to pictures of his family and to the Nobel ceremonies. It is unfortunate that a more representative pictorial history of his scientific life and associates is not included. The book ends with a list of Dr. Kendall's honors and a complete bibliography. These help to give a sense of his accomplishments. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Autumn 1971 | 151 As mentioned in the opening paragraph of this review, die sprightly text made this reader feel he was living with Dr. Kendall dirough an exciting life filled with biases, setbacks, and outstanding triumphs. It is not an objective history but instead, what a good biography should be, a living picture of die man. Leo T. Samuels, M.D. Department of Biological Chemistry University of Utah Bioethics: Bridge to the Future. By Van Rensselaer Potter. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1971. Pp. 205. $3.95 (paper). Time was when to label a scientist "philosophical" was to bestow the kiss of death. Has that time really passed? How many Ph.D.'s do we have in the sciences, right now, who have studied philosophy, read a philosophical book, or pondered a philosophical argument? A few? Or many? How many think these questions are of any interest? If you have read this far, then let diee and me set a spell and let me tell thee about a philosophical book recently written by a biological scientist , card-carrying biochemist, and experimental cancer investigator, Van R. Potter of the University of Wisconsin. His book is entitled Bioethics. In the neologistic title Potter has, I think, misled us a bit. I guessed that what Potter had prepared for us was an ediic, a code for moral behavior of...