Fragile Species

Lewis Thomas is a writer of great elegance and insight. In this book he returns to familiar themes, once again cautioning humanity about its place in the natural world, warning against the dangers of nuclear war, and of man's inhumanity to man. Thomas recaps the History of Medicine and tells us that for most of its history it did more damage than good. Only in the latter part of the nineteenth century did true scientific medicine begin to develop.Thomas talks about the great revolution which came with the use of anti-biotics. He catalogues a whole list of major discoveries and developments over the past one- hundred and fifty years. Thomas warns us here too however of being overwhelmed by our own pride in accomplishment. He points many medical problems and puzzles which are far from being solved. But he too has an optimism, for instance regarding a single major source for Cancer, which may well prove unwarranted. He writes about our need for humility in regard to our origins. He describes the conditions on earth when the first bacteria emerged close to around 3.7 billion years ago. He expresses optimism about the survival of humanity even though he is aware of great destructions in the past Earth has known in the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods. He basically believes in an overall evolutionary development on earth towards greater complexity and intelligence. And he seems to suggest that this is what will continue to happen despite human stupidity and greed. He is fascinated by the intricacy of biological processes and describes many vital to our human existence. He seems both a very clear writer and a very decent human being, besides being a first- rate scientist and doctor. This is a fine book which I believe every intelligent general reader will both enjoy and learn much from.

This book was copyrighted in 1992, a year prior to the author's death, and most of the essays in the book were written in the mid eighties. Now, some twenty-five years later it is instructive to view Lewis Thomas' observations as science history. Known for his ability to convey to a general readership the remarkable inner workings of the world of nature and its underlying scientific principles, Thomas entertains us with animated prose and brings science within our grasp. He assures us that we do not need to attend medical school or work in a research lab to be amazed by the newest discoveries in cellular biology, provided the processes are clearly explained. Many of the discoveries in basic science which Thomas describes were made on his watch, during the fifty years which he was a practicing physician. He points out that, "It wasn't until the early 20th century that anything approaching rational therapy emerged for human disease." Prior to that, physicians were ridiculed, as for instance personal injury lawyers are in this age, and for much the same reason. But some of Thomas' observations have not worn well with the passage of time. His alarmism about the AIDS pandemic sounds anachronistic, since the virus didn't jump to the non drug using, heterosexual population, at least in America and Western Europe, as he feared. Nor did the general public share his pathos over the imminent deaths of large numbers of drug users and gay men. Thomas also agonizes over the unequal distribution of wealth in the world and the consequent unequal distribution of health, without once suggesting that birth control might provide a cornerstone of public policy. He decries the nation-state as "inherently instable," and a deleterious force in human history, but fails to note that one particular nation-state, America, earns nearly three quarters of the Nobel prizes in science, which should show that some nation-states are not as harmful as others. Nor, with twenty-twenty hindsight, should we be surprised that Thomas did not foresee that the greatest threat to human civilization would come from a non-state player, namely Islamic jihad. Of course most of Thomas' observations have proven correct. He correctly predicted the likely success of recombinant DNA in increasing the resistance of crops to disease, except for in Europe, which to this day rejects the underlying science as just so much American cultural imperialism. And there are the quintessentially Thomasian observations such as how the ultrasound chirps of bats send crickets into chaotic and evasive flight patterns, though the crickets themselves do not appreciate the principles of bat echolocation. It works for them and the gene survives, mostly. But Thomas' most stunning perception, of an increasing distrust and even hostility to science, has blossomed into fruition in the present era. He anticipated presciently, "an anxiety to replace science with magic." He says, "anti-science is reachi

This is a great book, written by the late Lewis Thomas, who cared deeply about living things on this planet and their future. It's beautifully written, and I found practically every sentence a pleasure to read. I may be a touch biased, however, due to my fascination with biology. In a sense, the book is centered around the author's expertise in basic biology, and topics such as the threat of large scale nuclear war extend from this knowledge base. Fifteen years after its publication the book is not dated at all, as its message that humans must behave more prudently and compassionately, toward one another and toward the earth itself, to avoid extinction, is obviously still very much relevant today. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.

In my opinion, Lewis Thomas is the best there is at describing the wonder and beauty of biology. His first book, "The Lives of a Cell" , set the standard against which all other popular writers in biology should be measured. The elegant simplicity of his descriptions of how organisms interact remain as interesting and valid today as when "Lives .. " was first published in 1974. I recently re-read it and found it just as interesting now as I did the first time. That description also holds for this book, with Thomas once again waxing eloquent, particularly about the absurdity of "limited" nuclear war. His story about the development of Hawaiian Creole is also particularly thought-provoking. The islands were opened up for sugar plantations after 1880 and there was an enormous influx of laborers from many different language backgrounds. They came from China, Japan, Korea, Puerto Rico and the United States and none of these groups could understand any of the others. However, a pidgin language rapidly developed among the children of all groups. This hybrid language was almost completely unintelligible to the adults. Thomas uses this to argue his point that language originated among the children of early humans. The point is highly plausible, as only the minds of children seem to possess the necessary malleability to learn languages quickly. While I found the book interesting, it is not the page-turning classic that "Lives . . " is. The problem is that so much of this material already appeared in that book. This is unfortunate, for when Thomas is original he is so engaging a writer. Given the ongoing advances in biology, there certainly is no lack of material to write about.

Thomas's collection of essays on life, the universe and pretty darn much everything is suprisingly readable. He puts his theories into poetic prose and makes valid scientific points available in laymen's terms. More than a scientific paper, though, this is a deep peice of philosophy and offers much insight to the human soul. Definately worth reading!