The Case of the Midwife Toad [Hardcover]

Arthur Koestler (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House (1972)
• ASIN: B0012G9FVQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,046,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Budapest in 1905, educated in Vienna, Arthur Koestler immersed himself in the major ideological and social conflicts of his time. A communist during the 1930s, and visitor for a time in the Soviet Union, he became disillusioned with the Party and left it in 1938. Later that year in Spain, he was captured by the Fascist forces under Franco, and sentenced to death. Released through the last-minute intervention of the British government, he went to France where, the following year, he again was arrested for his political views. Released in 1940, he went to England, where he made his home. His novels, reportage, autobiographical works, and political and cultural writings established him as an important commentator on the dilemmas of the 20th century. He died in 1983.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A work on the politics of evolutionary theory., April 14, 1998

By 

Tawfik Ahdab [e-mail] (Eugene, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Case of the Midwife Toad (Hardcover)

Arthur Koestler has distinguished himself with this fine work, which recounts the scientific research of Paul Kammerer on evolution and its impact on the scientific community of the time. Kammerer's laboratory experiments appeared to reinforce the discredited Lamarckian theory which preceded Darwin's. This book provides fascinating insights into the politics of science, and the consequences of challenging scientific orthodoxy. Koestler paints a poignant yet uncommitted picture of the consequences Kammerer's experiments had on his professional and personal life.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars synchronicity, December 26, 2001

By 

The Don Wood Files (Fredericksburg, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Case of the Midwife Toad (Hardcover)

The other reviewers commented on the main subject of this book - the question of inheritance. However, the Appendix has a fascinating account of Kammerer's work on serial coincidence, of "like and like" happening together. Kammerer spent long walks observing people and things, and determined that similar events happen together. For example, in one of his files he notes, two soldiers, both 19 years old, both born in Silesia, both volunteers in the transport corps, both admitted to the same hospital in 1915, both victims of pneumonia, and both named Franz Richter. He found lots of these coincidences, and claimed that this is the way the world is structured. In fact, these are not coincidences, but evidence of "The Law of the Series." Sounds weird, but he took this seriously. The Appendix in The Case of the Mid Wife Toad gives an account of this bizarre research project of Paul Kammerer.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book about how science gets done., July 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Case of the Midwife Toad (Paperback)

This little gem by well-known novelist Arthur Koestler is a biography of a biologist who claims to have produced evidence that acquired characteristics can be inherited. The story is well written, and leaves the reader enough leeway to form their own opinion on the validity of the science involved. The claims of inheritance are as heretical to biologists as the claims of Robert Gentry in his book _Creation's Tiny Mystery_ are to geologists. I would strongly recommend both books to anyone interested in the way scientists interact with each other, and with the political forces which influence their funding and publication.