- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.; 1 edition (13 Mar 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0393061280
- ISBN-13: 978-0393061284
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 3.6 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 702,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Art and Politics of Science
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
[A] perceptive book about science and its civic value, arriving as the White House renews its acquaintance with empiricism. Varmus recounts his laboratory career and tenure as director of the National Institutes of Health, then surveys topical issues like stem-cell research. One implication of this book is that far from disconnecting politics and science, we should find better ways of linking them.--Peter Dizikes
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beguiling story of science at many levels, 4 Mar 2009
By Marc Kirschner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Art and Politics of Science (Hardcover)
Harold Varmus is an unusual scientist, who was a major participant in the most important discovery in cancer biology in history (for which he shared the Nobel Prize with J.Michael Bishop), directed the NIH, the most important medical research center in the world, and is presently the head of Memorial Sloan Kettering, where he has presided over an impressive growth in scientific discovery and clinical applications. In this reflection over his early development as a scientist, his important scientific discoveries, and his political experience in Washington, Varmus brings all of these down to a familiar and understandable level. Somehow this seems both remarkable and yet within reach of non-scientists. We trace Varmus's middle class beginnings, his love of books and flirtation with teaching English literature as a career, rejection from Harvard and acceptance to Columbia Medical School, his fortuitous associations at NIH, to his wonderful collaborations in California. These events are treated with gratitude, irony, and humor. The book is devoid of sentimentality, never condescends, explains the science accurately and simply, and portrays science as it often is, a combination of choosing a good problem, thinking clearly, working hard, and collaborating fairly and openly with students and other scientists. Somehow these simple virtues also worked pretty well in the frenetic Washington environment. For the reader of any background, Varmus's story will appear approachable and informative, a rare glimpse into modern science and science policy. It is an extraordinary career and a captivating story, told in a friendly and often humorous manner, with the goal of informing rather than impressing. It is an easy read that still manages to expand our appreciation of biology and the culture necessary to sustain it.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fans of Biographies -- take note, 26 Feb 2009
By reading widely - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Art and Politics of Science (Hardcover)
I am fan of biographies and history of science, too. This book hugely satisfies on these levels. Dr. Varmus's passions come through beautifully -- from the lab, to heading large, important institutions, to his friends and colleagues, to his family, to the love of learning. I am not a scientist and you don't have to be one to enjoy this book (although a certain level of science literacy is necessary). This book is elegant on the science and the personal comes through. Very appealing.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"An Elegant Combination of Science and Biography", 24 Feb 2009
By Leigh Sutton - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Art and Politics of Science (Hardcover)
Cancer researcher Harold Varmus has been called a Renaissance man, and the label is aptly bestowed. Varmus is as much at home in the world of art and literature as he is in the scientific realm, where his work with the oncogene--the mutating gene that causes cancer--earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine. These dual abilities uniquely qualify him to tell his tale. While Varmus describes his life and work engagingly, he is able with equal and contagious enthusiasm to explain, for example, the structure and function of DNA. As a nonscientific person, I didn't understand all the details of the discoveries he describes, but I got the gist and was warmed by the excitement he communicates. A stunning story by a powerful intellect.
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