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Expensive wrapping for good contents
190
TIBS - August 1976
BOOKS Expensive wrapping for good contents Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, Vol. 72 edited by W. Arber et al., published by Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York. DA482.- (USs33.70) (194 pages)
In the good old days, twenty years ago, sound accounts of contemporary research were made available in the form of ‘Science News’ and ‘New Biology’ both published by Penguin. These paperback books were bought and read alike by staff and students of University science departments. They formed the basis for discussion and occasionally seminars. They included as authors most of the famous and avantgarde research workers of the time. In a sense their eclectic, partly digested, accounts of contemporary research work have been continued by such journals as Scient$c American and New Scientkt but the longer review article has in many ways suffered a different fate well exemplified by the presently considered book. It contains five essays, on widely disparate topics, four of which have an immunological flavour, and with which I will deal in detail presently. Its cost in proportion to its length is phenomenal. One of the articles, printed on special shiny paper, contains a few moderately well-reproduced photomicrographs but aside from this it is difficult to see why such a volume could not have been produced for a third of the cost. Nobody but a few well endowed libraries will buy it with joy in their hearts. It represents much of what is worst about the scientific publishing industry at the present time - poor value, badly proof-read, and not placed in any sensible scientific perspective. The index is risibly inadequate - for example on p. 92 allergic encephalomyelitis, adjuvant induced arthritis, thyroid surgery and autoimmunity are mentioned, none appear in the index. Perhaps no index is necessary. Three of the five reviews state honestly at their beginning that their subject matter has been already the subject of fairly recent review. Again I wondered whether the present volume was a necessary addition to the loaded library shelves.
The papers themselves are of variable quality and bear little relation to each other. Andersen and his colleagues present an account of the ways and means of synchronizing cultures of the ciliate protozoan Tetrahymenapyriformis in respect of DNA synthesis and cell division. Comparable manipulation of other organisms is briefly mentioned. Tetrahymena rejoices in two nuclei one of which it uses in gametes while the other, which is largely the topic of Andersen et al.‘s review, is a macronucleus that is concerned with vegetative reproduction. Cells of Tetrahymena can divide without prior synthesis of DNA and vice versa at least when engaged in asexual reproduction. The authors describe how with gentle methods they can synchronize cells with respect to both cell division and DNA synthetic mechanisms. The paper is informed, well written and a lovely bit of natural history. Whether Tetrahymena represents such a good model for the regulation of cell division in mammalian cells as the authors seem to think is open to argument. Haase contributes an article on slow infection caused by Visna virus. He reviews his topic against a wish to understand why there is such a protracted incubation period in slow infections and also points to the similarity between Visna virus and the oncornaviruses. There is also the general suspicion that some relatively cowon viruses can have both common acute and rare delayed symptoms. Contemporary interest in measles-like viruses as aetiological factors in sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis and the possibility that multiple sclerosis could be associated with a ‘slow’ viral infection serves to make this survey of Visna virus topical. This is a good and informative review which shows commendable scholarship. It will certainly be useful if it is read by immunologists to remind them of the grass roots of their discipline. Two of the three remaining articles are concerned with one of the great problems of our time - tumour immunology. That by Baldwin and Robins describes various way in which anti-tumour attacks by lymphoid cells may be thwarted, or blocked in the jargon, by such humoral factors as antibody, antigen-antibody complexes, or tumour antigen. It is a concise and critical account of an interesting problem which
will appeal to parasitologists who are familiar with the fact that many systematized and foreign entities seem to be able to withstand prolonged attack by the mammalian lymphoid system. The article on immune RNA by Pilch and his colleagues deals with a very headshaking subject which perhaps might have been more objectively dealt with by a group less involved in the business. Like transfer-factor and the sundry other human cell-products which are being injected into people in an attempt to remedy or even cure a variety of ill-understood maladies it is difficult to ignore ‘immuneRNA’. Intellectually the evidence for its existence is disputatious. Even clinically its efficacy remains to be proven in an adequate series of controlled trials. Pilch et al. give a comprehensive and up-to-date account of their own work and that of some others in a somewhat murky area. The article of Asherson and Zembala adds a little to the galaxy of papers recently published on ‘T-cell suppression’ in ‘Transplantation Reviews’ but I feel that it will be little understood outside the charmed circle of suppressor specialists. My objection to this book is not its scientific content, which is considerable, but its wrapping paper which is too dear. A. J. S. DAVIES A. J. S. Davies is Professor of Immunobiology Institute of Cancer Research, London, U.K.
at the
The Nature game Das Spiel, Naturgesetze steuern den Zufall by Manfred Eigen and Ruthild Winkler, Publishedby R. Piper and Co., Verlag Miinchen/Ziirich, DM38.(approx. $lS.-) (404 pages)
Today we perceive a growing crisis in the relation between science and society. It becomes therefore essential to improve the public understanding of science. One should indeed not forget the essential role that non-scientists have always played in the conception that society, including scientists themselves, had of science. In this perspective the new book by Eigen and Winkler appears as an achievement of special importance. Manfred Eigen is one of the key figures in contemporary physical chemistry and molecular biology, but the present work goes far beyond the field to which Eigen has made important contributions. It spans an extraordinarily wide range from fundamental concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics such as game theory or symmetry, to problems of aesthetics and epistemology. It shows that an integrated approach to both the scientific and cul-
TIBS - August 1976
BOOKS Expensive wrapping for good contents Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, Vol. 72 edited by W. Arber et al., published by Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York. DA482.- (USs33.70) (194 pages)
In the good old days, twenty years ago, sound accounts of contemporary research were made available in the form of ‘Science News’ and ‘New Biology’ both published by Penguin. These paperback books were bought and read alike by staff and students of University science departments. They formed the basis for discussion and occasionally seminars. They included as authors most of the famous and avantgarde research workers of the time. In a sense their eclectic, partly digested, accounts of contemporary research work have been continued by such journals as Scient$c American and New Scientkt but the longer review article has in many ways suffered a different fate well exemplified by the presently considered book. It contains five essays, on widely disparate topics, four of which have an immunological flavour, and with which I will deal in detail presently. Its cost in proportion to its length is phenomenal. One of the articles, printed on special shiny paper, contains a few moderately well-reproduced photomicrographs but aside from this it is difficult to see why such a volume could not have been produced for a third of the cost. Nobody but a few well endowed libraries will buy it with joy in their hearts. It represents much of what is worst about the scientific publishing industry at the present time - poor value, badly proof-read, and not placed in any sensible scientific perspective. The index is risibly inadequate - for example on p. 92 allergic encephalomyelitis, adjuvant induced arthritis, thyroid surgery and autoimmunity are mentioned, none appear in the index. Perhaps no index is necessary. Three of the five reviews state honestly at their beginning that their subject matter has been already the subject of fairly recent review. Again I wondered whether the present volume was a necessary addition to the loaded library shelves.
The papers themselves are of variable quality and bear little relation to each other. Andersen and his colleagues present an account of the ways and means of synchronizing cultures of the ciliate protozoan Tetrahymenapyriformis in respect of DNA synthesis and cell division. Comparable manipulation of other organisms is briefly mentioned. Tetrahymena rejoices in two nuclei one of which it uses in gametes while the other, which is largely the topic of Andersen et al.‘s review, is a macronucleus that is concerned with vegetative reproduction. Cells of Tetrahymena can divide without prior synthesis of DNA and vice versa at least when engaged in asexual reproduction. The authors describe how with gentle methods they can synchronize cells with respect to both cell division and DNA synthetic mechanisms. The paper is informed, well written and a lovely bit of natural history. Whether Tetrahymena represents such a good model for the regulation of cell division in mammalian cells as the authors seem to think is open to argument. Haase contributes an article on slow infection caused by Visna virus. He reviews his topic against a wish to understand why there is such a protracted incubation period in slow infections and also points to the similarity between Visna virus and the oncornaviruses. There is also the general suspicion that some relatively cowon viruses can have both common acute and rare delayed symptoms. Contemporary interest in measles-like viruses as aetiological factors in sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis and the possibility that multiple sclerosis could be associated with a ‘slow’ viral infection serves to make this survey of Visna virus topical. This is a good and informative review which shows commendable scholarship. It will certainly be useful if it is read by immunologists to remind them of the grass roots of their discipline. Two of the three remaining articles are concerned with one of the great problems of our time - tumour immunology. That by Baldwin and Robins describes various way in which anti-tumour attacks by lymphoid cells may be thwarted, or blocked in the jargon, by such humoral factors as antibody, antigen-antibody complexes, or tumour antigen. It is a concise and critical account of an interesting problem which
will appeal to parasitologists who are familiar with the fact that many systematized and foreign entities seem to be able to withstand prolonged attack by the mammalian lymphoid system. The article on immune RNA by Pilch and his colleagues deals with a very headshaking subject which perhaps might have been more objectively dealt with by a group less involved in the business. Like transfer-factor and the sundry other human cell-products which are being injected into people in an attempt to remedy or even cure a variety of ill-understood maladies it is difficult to ignore ‘immuneRNA’. Intellectually the evidence for its existence is disputatious. Even clinically its efficacy remains to be proven in an adequate series of controlled trials. Pilch et al. give a comprehensive and up-to-date account of their own work and that of some others in a somewhat murky area. The article of Asherson and Zembala adds a little to the galaxy of papers recently published on ‘T-cell suppression’ in ‘Transplantation Reviews’ but I feel that it will be little understood outside the charmed circle of suppressor specialists. My objection to this book is not its scientific content, which is considerable, but its wrapping paper which is too dear. A. J. S. DAVIES A. J. S. Davies is Professor of Immunobiology Institute of Cancer Research, London, U.K.
at the
The Nature game Das Spiel, Naturgesetze steuern den Zufall by Manfred Eigen and Ruthild Winkler, Publishedby R. Piper and Co., Verlag Miinchen/Ziirich, DM38.(approx. $lS.-) (404 pages)
Today we perceive a growing crisis in the relation between science and society. It becomes therefore essential to improve the public understanding of science. One should indeed not forget the essential role that non-scientists have always played in the conception that society, including scientists themselves, had of science. In this perspective the new book by Eigen and Winkler appears as an achievement of special importance. Manfred Eigen is one of the key figures in contemporary physical chemistry and molecular biology, but the present work goes far beyond the field to which Eigen has made important contributions. It spans an extraordinarily wide range from fundamental concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics such as game theory or symmetry, to problems of aesthetics and epistemology. It shows that an integrated approach to both the scientific and cul-