Your Future Self: A Journey to the Frontiers of Molecular Medicine [Hardcover]

Hank Whittemore (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0500542236 | ISBN-13: 978-0500542231 | Publication Date: January 1998 | Edition: 1

Scientists are now exploring the inner, cellular universe of human life in ways that will forever change our relationship to our bodies. This era of biomedical breakthroughs has been expedited by extraordinary imaging techniques that allow biomedical scientists to actually see not just our cells at work but also our genetic and neural networks. The image of the inner self is no longer a biological illustration, an X-ray, or a diagram; it is a photographic image. Your Future Self is the first book for nonscientists to use these often strikingly beautiful images to illuminate our journey to the new era of molecular medicine. It takes the reader to laboratories whose research offers new hope for responding to the symptoms of disease with earlier treatment and for attacking the causes of illness with new cures and methods of prevention. For the first time, we can see the effect of therapies upon cancerous cells; we can see the effect of stimuli on the brain; we can see an HIV virus invade a cell. We have arrived at an evolutionary turning point from chance to choice, from blindly accepting the dictates of nature to being able to direct our nurture. Just as the development of large telescopes at the turn of the century transformed our sense of ourselves in the universe, so too our ability to see ourselves at the molecular level is transforming our physical, emotional, and cultural sense of self. Your Future Self also includes a number of scientifically inspired works by artists whose images extend and deepen the unfolding revelation of our inner universe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This handsome volume might tell lay readers plenty about medicine and biology, but its main appeal lies in what it shows. Inspired by an exhibit at the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Museum of Art, the book lets us accompany scientists as they explore the human body and its components, using computerized images and innovative microscopes. Employing such techniques as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray crystallography, computerized tomography and immunofluorescent dyes, scientists can glimpse the brain mechanisms involved in drug addiction, or see how HIV penetrates healthy cells to cause AIDS. The photos?many of them stunningly beautiful?capture a four-cell human embryo growing on day two, brain signals crackling across neural synapses, cancer spreading or a free-roaming white blood cell clearing debris inside a lung afflicted with pneumonia. Whittemore (The Super Cops; CNN: The Inside Story), who has also written scripts for Nova, explains the science behind these vivid images?explicating, for example, both the structure and function of DNA, and the computer programs used to depict it. Images contributed by biomedical centers, hospitals and laboratories share a final chapter with the work of medical technology-themed sculptors and photographers. Some of the strongest images?blazing high-contrast reds and echoey purples?establish microphotography as a distinct art form. Even the less spectacular images, and the clear prose that accompanies them, show how new imaging technologies can render scientific data graspable, amplify patterns in nature and create metaphors for our own futures. 120 color illustrations.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The overall theme of this coffee-table book, an exploration of molecular genetics and neurobiology, is largely lost in its tangled multiplicity of images. The images themselves, which range from microphotographs to computer simulations and artificially colored X-rays, are often beautiful, sometimes garish, and nearly all accompanied by such scant and complex text that they are virtually impossible for the general reader to comprehend. Even a scientist would have trouble making sense out of some of them, which probably explains why at least one is mislabeled. A glossary provides oversimplified definitions often only marginally more meaningful than the original terms. Still, some of the images are exceptional, either as science or as art. The new imaging techniques exhibited here are producing a new language of science, but it is not well translated by Whittemore, an author who has written TV scripts for science documentaries. Recommended for larger art and popular science collections.?Lloyd Davidson, Seeley G. Mudd Lib. for Science & Engineering, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; 1 edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500542236
• ISBN-13: 978-0500542231
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,269,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Future Self: a Journey to the Frontiers of Molecular Me, July 21, 2000

By 

Emily (Newton, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Future Self: A Journey to the Frontiers of Molecular Medicine (Hardcover)

The book, Your Future Self, offers a delightful concept, lucid text and spectacular images.