The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable at times
Review: I thought his first volume of essays - THE LIVES OF A CELL - was more interesting, but there are still some essays here that will stimulate the reader to ponder the biology Thomas discusses.

Rating:
Summary: More good writing and ideas but some are repeated
Review: The title of the book comes from one of the most unusual instances of symbiosis that exists in nature. A form of jellyfish accepts a snail larva, which then proceeds to feast on the jellyfish until it becomes a truncated parasite on the mouth of the snail. This remnant is capable of reproducing and the cycle begins anew. As Thomas writes so eloquently, it is a misnomer to label such examples of biological cooperation as a parasitic relationship. Both species benefit greatly, each serving to protect and nourish the other at some point in their life-cycle.
What is difficult to understand is how such a relationship could be generated. All organisms are marked by very specific molecular structures, which may be the most species-specific characteristic there is. How these two creatures could somehow forgive the presence of another until the relationship could develop is completely unknown. But any solution would have profound consequences for medicine. Any ability to turn the immune system on and off at will would allow for tremendous advances in battles against specific diseases. It would then be possible to turn on specific antibodies against whatever disease is currently a threat.
The remainder of the book is just as interesting, as Thomas continues in putting forward his philosophy of mother earth as a cooperative biological entity. While his analogy of the cellular cooperation of an organism to that of the biosphere of the earth is a stretch, there is enough truth to take it seriously. Like all his books after the original, I enjoyed it, but wish he would not recycle material used in earlier books. There is so much new biological wonder and he is so talented a writer that I would have loved to see what new material he could generate.

Rating:
Summary: Overlooked and underappreciated
Review: This collection of essays has held a special place on my shelf and in my heart for many years. I return to it often for both the ideas and the wonderful sense of life that Lewis Thomas injects into his writing.

I have read other reviews here questioning both the scientific value of these essays and the author's scientific creditials. As for the latter - this man has been a doctor, a field researcher, a lab director, a professor, the dean of Yale medical school, President of the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and member of the Presidential Science Advisory Board. If you have an issue with these credentials your standards are a little too high.

To speak of the scientific value of this book is difficult. Lewis Thomas didn't write like Steven Jay Gould, with clear theses, dates and names and cited research. He is more like Douglas Hofstadter. (if this comparison helps) I imagine that Lewis Thomas wrote these essays late at night after a day filled with details and the reductionism of modern science. These essays are the antithesis of what his days must have entailed.

What we find on paper here are both the whimsical musisngs and deepest thoughts of a brilliant man whose whole life was devoted to practicing and teaching science. He writes beautifully, with humour, zest, and a sense of wonder that I find endlessly captivating. His love of the natural world is infectious.

Please read this book. Of all the science books I've read (I have two science degrees) and all the fiction I've read, this book continues to inspire, teach, and amaze me.

Rating:
Summary: Overlooked and underappreciated
Review: This collection of essays has held a special place on my shelf and in my heart for many years. I return to it often for both the ideas and the wonderful sense of life that Lewis Thomas injects into his writing.

I have read other reviews here questioning both the scientific value of these essays and the author's scientific creditials. As for the latter - this man has been a doctor, a field researcher, a lab director, a professor, the dean of Yale medical school, President of the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and member of the Presidential Science Advisory Board. If you have an issue with these credentials your standards are a little too high.

To speak of the scientific value of this book is difficult. Lewis Thomas didn't write like Steven Jay Gould, with clear theses, dates and names and cited research. He is more like Douglas Hofstadter. (if this comparison helps) I imagine that Lewis Thomas wrote these essays late at night after a day filled with details and the reductionism of modern science. These essays are the antithesis of what his days must have entailed.

What we find on paper here are both the whimsical musisngs and deepest thoughts of a brilliant man whose whole life was devoted to practicing and teaching science. He writes beautifully, with humour, zest, and a sense of wonder that I find endlessly captivating. His love of the natural world is infectious.

Please read this book. Of all the science books I've read (I have two science degrees) and all the fiction I've read, this book continues to inspire, teach, and amaze me.

Rating:
Summary: small wonder
Review: This may not be for the technically minded. It is however for the reader who longs for a sense of magic once felt while young. The magic lost in real life. This book made me want to look for more interesting biology and science books. It is a great leap ahead of his book "the lives of a cell".