In the spirit of Voltaire--and occasionally in the spirit of P. G. Wodehouse--the Medawars have crafted for the life sciences a source of reference that is meant for browsing, a book both authoritative and tilled with delights.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Biologists P. B. and J. S. Medawar take on a challenging task: introducing readers to the central problems of life science and showing their profound relevance to our daily lives. They do so with verve, correcting from essay to essay our common misconceptions about the nature of things. For one, they write, "It is a popular fallacy that chewing gum regains its flavor if removed from the mouth and parked, say, under a chair. What is regained is not the flavor but the ability to taste the flavor as sensory adaptation wears off." You'll learn a great deal about such adaptations, to say nothing of recombinant DNA research, biogenetics, and eugenics, oncology, transplantation, environmental change, and animal rights, among dozens of other topics.
Review
These little essays are beautifully written, trenchant, witty and informative... Enjoy the lovely prose and the tough precise intelligence ... If a central informing theme is to be found in the Medawars' dictionary, it is an appeal for a disciplined and critical mind. (Nature )
Two distinguished scientists have made sense of their speciality instead of mystery. Entries on altruism, clones, and simple sweating combine authority with humanity--and even wit. (Los Angeles Times Book Review )
Aristotle to Zoos is a recommended introduction to the problems of life science and their profound relevance to our daily lives. P.B. and J. S. Medawar are masterful guides...The Medawars' work is a model of scientific prose. It is written to delight and to teach. (The Bloomsbury Review )
Two distinguished scientists have made sense of their speciality instead of mystery. Entries on altruism, clones, and simple sweating combine authority with humanity--and even wit. (Los Angeles Times Book Review )
Aristotle to Zoos is a recommended introduction to the problems of life science and their profound relevance to our daily lives. P.B. and J. S. Medawar are masterful guides...The Medawars' work is a model of scientific prose. It is written to delight and to teach. (The Bloomsbury Review )
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