Synopses & Reviews
In this retrospective of Gerald Weissmann's best-known essays, the reader is treated to his unique perspective on what C. P. Snow once dubbed "the Two Cultures" -- art and science. In Darwin's Audubon, Weissmann examines the powerful influence that the two exert over one another and how they have helped each other evolve. From listening to the scientists who gather ever year to sing at the Woods Hole Cantata Consort to looking at the influence of Audubon's watercolors on Darwin's On the Origin of Species; from comparing William Carlos Williams's poetry to his unedited case books to watching Oliver Wendell Holmes grow as doctor and as poet, Weissmann weaves a rich tapestry that will delight fans and newcomers alike.
Synopsis
In this treasure trove of new and best-known essays, Gerald Weissmann ranges freely through subjects as diverse as a cultural history of inflammation, the medical careers of Gertrude Stein and William Carlos Williams, and the Titanic. He is equally at home with Darwin as he is with a suffering homeless patient to whom he ministers with compassion. While in these pages he wages an acutely argued campaign against scientific fraud and facile reasoning, there is nothing righteous or strident in his tone. His writing has a rare brilliance that evokes figures of history and art as vividly as the genius of scientific discovery.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-323) and index.