Autobiographic books written by ''founding fathers'' of molecular biology and their students take up about one halfmeter of my bookshelf. As an aficionado of this genre who finds these books exciting to read (some more than others), I rate Jon Beckwith's among the best of them. In this book, he takes us along on a journey through his work in science and involvement in social and political affairs. This is both an inquest and a good story told with honesty and candor by a much-admired scientist. Beckwith has had a long and intense involvement in the social implications of science and writes about them in a sober and non-provocative manner. He records thoughts, experiences, and feelings in a narrative and personal style.
The author's case for the obligation of scientists to be mindful of the social implications of science is bolstered by both personal participation and consideration of historical experience. He makes a powerful case based on the paths taken by some geneticists, unwittingly or otherwise, from eugenics to Nazi racism. Beckwith tells us of taking part in several controversies, including the XYY chromosome business, sociobiology, the misuse of human growth hormone, genetic screening. I found these accounts to be illuminating and even stirring in places. This book fits well in the literature of the social aspects of science and, being written in a personal style, is highly readable.
Surely, readers (and reviewers) will view this book from their political attitude. Beckwith's early activism unfolded during the problematical period of the early 1970s, when, quite abruptly,