Reinventing The Future: Conversations With The World's Leading Scientists - Hardcover

Bass, Thomas A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 020162642X ISBN 13: 9780201626421

Publisher: Basic Books, 1993

Synopsis

Each of 11 interviews begins with a photo and a summary of the scientist's career and interests. Questions and answers follow, the interviewer keeping his presence to a minimum and letting his subjects talk. Among those interviewed are: Etienne-Emile Baulier (inventor of the abortion pill), Richard Dawkins ("selfish genes"), Bert Sakmann (cellular signalling), Norman Packard (chaos theory). Intended for the lay audience. No index. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

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Reviews

More a "recollection of what has been discovered" than a vision of what may be, this collection of question-and-answer interviews with 11 scientists who have explored new territory in their fields offers a view of science as process. Bass ( The Eudaemonic Pie ) speaks with sociobiologist Sarah Hrdy, Nigerian psychiatrist Thomas Adeoye Lambo, chaos theorist Norman Packard, geneticist Mary-Claire King and others whose fields include anthropology, archeology and AIDS epidemiology. The format of brief question and lengthy response captures the individual voices of the interviewees and yields engaging, informative reading. Several of the pieces originally appeared in Omni magazine during the last five years. While some of the material here falls well behind the cutting edge of current science, readers will find this collection provocative and intriguing.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bass ( The Eudaemonic Pie , LJ 5/1/84; Camping with the Prince and other Tales of Science in Africa , LJ 2/1/90) interviewed 11 scientists from different fields to reveal their respective inspirations, motivations, and aspirations. The subtitle describing them as the world's leading scientists is arguable, but there is no doubt that the subjects are renowned in their respective fields. The interviewees include Luc Montagnier, discoverer of the AIDS virus; Etienne-Emile Baulieu, a biochemist and physician who helped develop RU-486, the "abortion pill"; Mary-Claire King, a geneticist who isolated the gene responsible for inherited breast cancer; and Bert Sakmann, a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology in 1992. The individual chapters provide insight into the ideas and accomplishments of each researcher, but the book as a whole lacks a focal point. For larger science collections.
- Bruce Slutsky, New Jersey Inst. of Technology Lib., Newark
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 020162642X
• ISBN 13: 9780201626421
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 249