Candid Science II: Conversations with Famous Biomedical Scientists (Pt.2) [Hardcover]

Magdolna Hargittai (Author), Istvan Hargittai (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1860942806 | ISBN-13: 978-1860942808 | Publication Date: March 2002 | Edition: 1st

This volume contains 36 interviews with biomedical scientists (26 of whom are Nobel laureates). The conversations cover research areas and discoveries, as well as the roads to these discoveries, including aspects of the scientists' work that never saw publication. The book includes details on the scientists' backgrounds, aspirations, failings and triumphs. It is illustrated with snapshots of the conversations and photos provided by the interviewees. This book should be of interest to biomedical scientists, biochemists and general readers. It is a follow-up to "Candid Science: Conversations with Famous Chemists", by the same author.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I heartily recommend this book to biomedical scientists, biochemists, chemists, historians of chemistry. -- Chemical Heritage, Summer 2003

The book is easy to read....Overall, they give an accurate flavor of biomedical research. -- Choice, Nov 2002

The present selection of interviews gives a cross section covering a broad range of topics, personalities, and circumstances of recording. -- The Chemical Educator, 2003

Product Details

• Hardcover: 616 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company; 1st edition (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860942806
• ISBN-13: 978-1860942808
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,304,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Istvan Hargittai, PhD, DSc (Budapest, Hungary), is the author of several acclaimed books including the six-volume Candid Science series of interviews with famous scientists; The Road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists; The Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century; and The DNA Doctor: Candid Conversations with James D. Watson. Dr. Hargittai is professor of chemistry at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and head of the George A Olah PhD School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and a member of the Academia Europaea in London. His work on the Teller book was assisted by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More conversations---Chemical Heritage magazine, March 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Candid Science II: Conversations with Famous Biomedical Scientists (Pt.2) (Paperback)

During his six-year tenure as Editor-in-Chief of The Chemical Intelligencer, István Hargittai, sometimes with his wife Magdi, interviewed more than 120 eminent scientists, more than half of whom were Nobel laureates....
Hargittai seeks to elicit the stories behind the most important achievements in twentieth-century biomedicine directly from some of their most eminent participants. They tell us about their backgrounds, families and lives, both personal and professional, childhoods (Like me or others of my generation, some had chemistry sets or were inspired by Paul de Kruif¡¦s Microbe Hunters or Sinclair Lewis¡¦ Arrowsmith), influences and career choices, motivations, aspirations, heroes (scientific or otherwise), mentors, hardships and triumphs, philosophies, hobbies and nonscientific interests (several are accomplished musicians), and their seminal discoveries.
Nobel laureates describe how the prize affected their lives, research, and careers. Most are modest and admit the role of luck in their good fortune (Kary B. Mullis is the sole exception). In reply to Hargittai¡¦s serious questions a number of the conversations are laced with humor.
Each interview is prefaced with a biographical sketch and includes one or more portraits of the interviewee, many photographed by Hargittai or his wife. The volume contains 176 illustrations of apparatus, formal and informal group portraits, notebooks, letters, models, commemorative postage stamps, plaques, and drawings. Three of the interviewees are now deceased, underscoring the importance of such oral histories. Several scientists discuss their differences with other scientists and competitors.
On the whole, however, most of the scientists are well acquainted with each other and are mutually supportive, and their names crop up frequently in each other¡¦s interviews. Some offer suggestions as to Nobel-caliber scientists whose candidacy was overlooked.nAn unusually high proportion of the interviewees (at least 22) are Jewish, so the issues of Judaism, the Holocaust, and anti-Semitism are discussed by many of them.
In his preface Hargittai states, ¡§The science of the second half of the 20th century was dominated by the biomedical fields and this is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The present selection of interviews gives a cross section covering a broad range of topics, personalities, and circumstances of recording.¡¨ I agree with Hargittai¡¦s assessment and heartily recommend his book, suitable for both complete reading or browsing, to biomedical scientists, biochemists, chemists, historians of chemistry and or science, and general readers interested in the ¡§inside story¡¨ of the workings of 20th century science.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interviewing famous molecular biologists, February 8, 2009

By 

Science Goddess (Champaign, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Candid Science II: Conversations with Famous Biomedical Scientists (Pt.2) (Paperback)

Length:: 4:59 Mins

Hi, this is Joanne, a bioengineering instructor at the University of Illinois. I read science books and review them. See more at my youtube site http://www.youtube.com/user/joannelovesscience

Once again, Dr. Hargittai interviews the movers and shakers in the field of molecular biology. Friendly and informative. This one is my favorite because I recognize most of the names!