ted to Yale, in 1969. We also learn that she was a graduate student studying embryology and its history with Robert Briggs (of frog-cloning fame) in the mid-1970s. She was clearly an attentive student: in this book, she displays a sound grasp of the history not only of embryology, but also of genetics, molecular biology and reproductive technology.
''Whose View of Life'' starts off with Aristotle, an ''epigenesist'' like William Harvey in the 17 th century, Caspar Friedrich Wolff in the 18 th and Karl von Baer in the 19 th century, all of whom believed that development was gradual, that form came into being over time. In contrast the preformationists-for example Nicholaas Hartsoeker of the spermatozoal homunculus in the 17 th century and Charles Bonnet in the 18 th -held that life and its form were laid down in the beginning, as tiny material beings that swell and grow larger in the course of individual development. Early religious views are summarized, the cell theory of Schwann & Schleiden and then Rudolf Virchow is set out, and embryology, through the descriptive studies of Ernst Haeckel and Wilhelm His, morphs into the experimental embryology of Wilhelm Roux in frogs, Hans Driesch in sea urchins, and the later transplantation studies of Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold. On the way, we are introduced to regeneration, parthenogenesis and the pioneering tissue culture experiments of Ross Harrison.
An equally interesting account of genetics follows, starting with Gregor Mendel's peas and Thomas Hunt Morgan's chromosome theory, and taking in the eugenics movement in USA in the early 20 th century, with the sad story of Carrie Buck and her family. At this point, social factors are briefly introduc-