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Notes of a Biology Watcher #1-2
The Wonderful Mistake: Notes of a Biology Watcher Incorporating the Lives of a Cell and the Medusa and the Snail
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1988
64 people want to read
About the author
Lewis Thomas
71 books220 followersLewis Thomas (November 25, 1913–December 3, 1993) was a physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher.
Thomas was born in Flushing, New York and attended Princeton University and Harvard Medical School. He became Dean of Yale Medical School and New York University School of Medicine, and President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute. His formative years as an independent medical researcher were at Tulane University School of Medicine.
He was invited to write regular essays in the New England Journal of Medicine, and won a National Book Award for the 1974 collection of those essays, The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. He also won a Christopher Award for this book. Two other collections of essays (from NEJM and other sources) are The Medusa and the Snail and Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony. His autobiography, The Youngest Science: Notes of a Medicine Watcher is a record of a century of medicine and the changes which occurred in it. He also published a book on etymology entitled Et Cetera, Et Cetera, poems, and numerous scientific papers.
Many of his essays discuss relationships among ideas or concepts using etymology as a starting point. Others concern the cultural implications of scientific discoveries and the growing awareness of ecology. In his essay on Mahler's Ninth Symphony, Thomas addresses the anxieties produced by the development of nuclear weapons.[1] Thomas is often quoted, given his notably eclectic interests and superlative prose style.
The Lewis Thomas Prize is awarded annually by The Rockefeller University to a scientist for artistic achievement.
Thomas was born in Flushing, New York and attended Princeton University and Harvard Medical School. He became Dean of Yale Medical School and New York University School of Medicine, and President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute. His formative years as an independent medical researcher were at Tulane University School of Medicine.
He was invited to write regular essays in the New England Journal of Medicine, and won a National Book Award for the 1974 collection of those essays, The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. He also won a Christopher Award for this book. Two other collections of essays (from NEJM and other sources) are The Medusa and the Snail and Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony. His autobiography, The Youngest Science: Notes of a Medicine Watcher is a record of a century of medicine and the changes which occurred in it. He also published a book on etymology entitled Et Cetera, Et Cetera, poems, and numerous scientific papers.
Many of his essays discuss relationships among ideas or concepts using etymology as a starting point. Others concern the cultural implications of scientific discoveries and the growing awareness of ecology. In his essay on Mahler's Ninth Symphony, Thomas addresses the anxieties produced by the development of nuclear weapons.[1] Thomas is often quoted, given his notably eclectic interests and superlative prose style.
The Lewis Thomas Prize is awarded annually by The Rockefeller University to a scientist for artistic achievement.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 18, 2024
Lewis Thomas once wrote that he was “permanently startled by the realization we are a social species.” A scientist who headed the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute, this book of essays won Thomas his second National Book Award. His special knack was his ability to reveal the central themes of human behavior by telling stories about cells and ants, mitochondria and symbiosis. How he manages this is still a mystery to me, but I guarantee you won’t be disappointed when you read his witty and moving essays. Somehow he manages in every one of them to be both light and profound, engaging and startling.
December 6, 2014
A series of essays of about five pages each. They contain a few interesting scientific facts but never go into any depth, so they are very unsatisfying from that point of view. In addition there are the author's fanciful ideas and philosophising, which I found uninteresting. So, for me it was a frustrating waste of time.
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November 25, 2013- "Lewis Thomas, Whose Essays Clarified the Mysteries of Biology, Is Dead at 80," By MARILYN BERGER Published: December 04, 1993 http://nyti.ms/1bO6Kng
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews