Mayonnaise and the Origin of Life: Thoughts of Minds and Molecules

The great Harold Morowitz once again dazzles us with his insights into science, the world and various other topics. One caution: despite its title, this book has only one essay that deals with the origin of life (the essay shares the same title as the book itself). Unlike "Cosmic Joy And Local Pain" there is no thematic unity that is shared by the subject matter of his essays. This is by no means bad, it's just good to know that this is NOT a series of essays which deal exclusively with the origin of life on Earth. Morowitz writes delightful pieces on ethics in universities, the academic standards of pre-med students (which are much lower and driven by politics far more than I had thought possible), the pragmatic uses of liberal arts degrees as well as other topics. His writing is succinct and always insightful. If one is interested in the vast scope and inner-workings of science, one can do much worse than to follow along and trace the path of trenchant observations of Harold J. Morowitz.