Customer Reviews

Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Search for the Origins of Behavior

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This book is a work of art. It has everything! It is not just a great book about an unsung hero in science. It is a suspenseful story (will they or won't they discover the genes for time, love, and memory?), a touching story (Seymour Benzer is a character--a real character that is--you will remember forever), and an important story (all the headlines of a gene for this kind of behavior, a gene for that kind of behavior: This is the real story, the science behind the headlines). You might not think a serious book about science is a good summer book, but it is! Take it to the beach, the mountains, wherever you go--or read it at home. You will not be sorry. Your life will be greatly enriched. I loved The Beak of the Finch (which won the Pulitzer). I love this book even more.

... This is a great book by the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Beak of the Finch. It moves right along and was a cliff hanger, it kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see which next of my cherised beliefs was going to dashed in the name of science.

...

If you think that human nature is largely a result of nurture and you wish to hang on to this belief for dear life, be very afraid, this is not your book.

The book is well written with lots of interviews and original research by the author who already has proven his chops as a science writer. If biology, evolution or genetics is an interest, this is your book.

There is so much about genes in the news these days, especially how they affect our behavior, our personality, etc. A lot of the headlines are overblown--"popularizations" of the science. If you want to really know the connection between genes and behavior--and the remarkable scientists who are figuring it out, read Time, Love, Memory. It explains it all so simply and clearly that you can actually explain it to others (a feat for me since I did not take any science courses beyond the requirements Freshman year of college!). Plus Mr. Weiner is obviously an incredibly well-read person because he pulls in all kinds of things from literature, poetry, and myth. These references illuminate the science, bringing it home, so to speak, so that you can really draw the parallels between flies and human beings, between science and literature. I loved The Beak of the Finch and I adore this book. Time, Love, Memory just won the National Book Critics Circle Award, I understand. It deserved it, and it deserves to be read--and enjoyed--by all. Bravo! I can't wait for the next one by this talented writer.

Seeing genetic-related stories constantly cropping up in the news, my curiosity was sparked and had to be sated. I'm not sure why I chose this book, but I'm certainly glad that I did. Not only does this book provide the reader with more than a surface view of the science, it offers a history of the players (what characters!) and classic anecdotes (flies sometimes learn better if you cut their heads off). Most interestingly though, it provides a glimpse of what may be to come. Cloning? Big deal, what about curing genetic flaws, creating designer children, etc. Its a brave new world, and this book shows you why. The best thing that I can say about this book is that it makes you feel as though you know what is going on behind what seemed to be closed doors. And it is very entertaining.

We used this book in our into-biology courses at the University of Minnesota, Morris. I have read several other fascinating historical accounts about the eve of molecular biology (Luria's 'A Slot Machine...' and Cairn's classic 'Phage and the Origins of Molecular Biology'. Weiner perhaphs captures this exciting period in the development of Biology with more flare, making it a great read. True, there are a few slow parts of the book, but this is what science is often all about right? The calm before the storm!

Anyway, if you are looking at insights into this period of the development of molecular biology and the way it has defined the fields of the life-sciences, look no further than this book.

Enjoy!

Far, far back in time, a group of molecules, tangled in crystals of clay, learned the trick of replication. Over time, joined by other molecules of similar talent, they grew complex, finally forming organisms. Seeking food, needing rest, hiding from hungry fellows, developing sex as an offshoot of replication skills, patterns of activity emerged - behaviour. The molecules altered form as external environment changed. Successful changes were kept, while others were left inert in storage. None were discarded, and those controlling basic body structure and fundamental behaviour patterns remained intact across the wide span of living things. After over 3 billion years of life traversing this path, one of the organisms set out to determine how it all worked.

Jonathan Weiner's relation of a century of research teasing into view DNA's mechanisms for guiding behaviour is a brilliant piece of science writing. His focus is Seymour Benzer and his research team studied flies, recording how changing conditions modified conduct. It became clear that 'dumb' animals could adapt through learning. Not only adapt, but retain memories to repeat the new behaviour when needed. By the end of the 20th Century, the research began to identify where along the structure of DNA the operational level of these behaviour codes resided. As often as not a single 'letter' change in the gene was found to trigger the change. More immediately, the information revealed in fruit flies was repeated in other animals. Duplicating the finds in mammals has overwhelming implications for humans.

Weiner's account is forcefully presented in a clear, direct style. This book is a supreme example science writing at its very summit. He offer no judgements of his own. It isn't necessary for him to flaunt the victory Benzer's research grants E. O. Wilson's sociobiology. In fact, Weiner's account of Richard Lewontin's objections to relating genetic bases of behaviour to humans simply lets Lewontin hang himself out to dry. Weiner clearly values the effort invested in the research by Benzer, Tim Tully, Chip Quinn, and, of course, the paramount figure of all, Thomas Hunt Morgan who, with Alfred Sturtevant, initiated the work so long ago.

If you wish to gain insight into your place in the natural universe, this book is a must read. If you adhere to the idea that evolution is a progressive path to humans as the ultimate goal, this book is a must read. If you feel that some divinity has plunked you on this planet with a special role, read this book. Whoever you are, read this book.

If you want to understand the science of behavior genetics, this is the book for you. But it's more than that. It's a poetic meditation on life, a detective story, and a fascinating character study. It just won the National Book Critics Circle Award and does it deserve it!

An evocative and wholely compelling portrait of one man that illiminates some of the most significant insights in 20th century biology. Marvelously done. An excellent introduction to molecular genetics. Literary, insightful, witty and precise.

I know a few of these types at the University of Pittsburgh. In fact, I even tried to get into a lab where they were working with Drosophila (flies) and eyesight. They live in their own world, but the work that they have done on genes will provide information on not only this one species, but on humans as well. Mr. Weiner does an excellent job of portraiture with words. The men who did all this work come out not just as scientists with quirks, of which there are many, but also as men with passions about what they are doing. Not all researchers have this passion, and that is why some work in medical science is stagnating while other is leaping forward in great bounds. I laughed when I recognized some of the stunts they pulled and the innovations they made using simple ideas. Some of science is serendipity, some is sheer perserverence, and some is creative thinking in the simplest terms. This is what Jonathan Weiner wrote so well about in this book. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

In May 2000 the keynote speaker of the plenary session for the annual American Academy of Neurology meeting was Seymour Benzer. Why should thousands of clinical neurologists be listening to this old guy talking about fruit fly brains? The reasons became clear as Benzer, a soft-spoken, self-effacing genius, gave his talk. His seminal research program has given profound insights into the nature of circadian rhythms, memory, and many other subjects. There are now fruit fly models of Huntington's and Parkinson's disease, providing insights at a subcellular and genetic level. That's why we were listening to him, and that's why subsequently I read this book. I think the book provides an ideal entry, in a creative and unusual fashion, into a history of some of the fundamental forces shaping biomedical research today. As a biography, we learn only a little about Benzer, but perhaps that is inevitable as so much of his life seems to be bound to his research. The literary allusions may be weak at times, but this is after all a book for a broad audience, and Weiner stimulates us to contemplate the wider implications of scientific progress. The book should be readily accessible to those without a science background, and will be highly enjoyable and informative even to those with an advanced understanding of the intricacies of biology.