The Dialectical Biologist

In THE DIALECTICAL BIOLOGIST, Levins and Lewontin take a Marxist dialectical approach to examine the way and shape of contemporary biology. Not that I fully understand this approach, it does raise some intriguing critiques about the influence of the biotech-industrial complex and how groupthink and intertia of academia enforces dogma. I particularly liked the "Isadore Nabi" piece and the essay on agri-business.As a working scientist, I think it is important to think and rethink the Big Picture of why and how we do what we do. THE DIALECTICAL BIOLOGIST addresses a few particular questions of ways of modern biology.NB: similar themes are covered in DOING SCIENCE: THE REALITY CLUB #2, edited by John Brockman.

This book represents one of the most complete pictures of biology and its perspectives. A book where science and philosophy play an interesting dialog. For the reader it will be an interesting approach to an interesting point of view: science is not merely theories, hypothesis, facts, but a delicate an sometimes not so delicated conjunction of social structures, background ideologies and scientific method. Personally, the book represents a general exposition of ideas from scientists with a coherent line of thought. In its moment controversial... and now, simply, one of the ways to do our labours of scientists, may be the best one...