A PASSION FOR SCIENCE

by Lewis & Alison Richards--Eds. Wolpert ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1988

Passion spins the plot,"" as George Meredith once wrote--a notion that BBC producer Richards and biologist Wolpert (Middlesex Hospital Medical School) echo in this series of conversations with eminent scientists that formed the basis for a popular radio program. The choices for subjects are a marvelously articulate bunch of scientists, 12 male and one female (X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Hodgkin), mostly British, but including Stephen J. Gould and Gunther Stent as well. Wolpert plays the interlocutor who addresses not so much the what and how of science, but more personal questions: What got you interested, what are the motivations, the satisfactions and gratifications? Time and time again one hears of the importance of communication, a zeal for constant exchange with colleagues to test ideas--as, for example, Francis Crick and Sidney Brenner enjoyed in 20 years of working together. It also is a matter of self-communication: the delight that Gould derives from seeing connections across fields that yield the insightful essays he has produced. There is also a sense of playful self-indulgence that theoretical physicist Michael Berry speaks of as he explores aspects of catastrophe and chaos theories. For Gunther Stent, the passion to communicate has him preparing his results for publication before the results are in! Clearly there is passion in the pursuit of science, a passion that drives them to long hours and often futile or worthless results. The compensations are the joys of success--eloquently described by Anthony Epstein, who peered through the electron microscope and saw virus particles (to become known as the Epstein-Barr virus) for the first time. Otherwise there are interesting variations in style. There are the experimentalists who are happiest when they can get their hands on in the laboratory, and there are the theoreticians like cosmologist Martin Rees. Apart from both are ""pure"" mathematicians like Christopher Zeeman, who creates theorems. Some of those interviewed say they were hell-bent on science from earliest childhood; others (Abdus Salam for one) backed into the field quite by accident. Most maintain an optimism about science in today's world, confessing a feeling that no holds should be barred in the pursuit, but in some cases drawing a line at applications. All in all, an appealing and informative picture of the ways and styles of scientists.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION