- Email: [email protected]
Treasures from the Sea for Medicine
Developmental and Comparative Immunology 26 (2002) 305
www.elsevier.com/locate/devcompimm
Book review Treasures from the Sea for Medicine Albert C. Smith (2000) 1stBooks Library, Bloomington. $7.95 paperback, $5.95 electronic version This little book is interesting for two reasons: its subject matter and the manner of its publication. The author is a practicing pathologist who also has a PhD, holds several academic appointments of the marine kind, and is clearly passionate about the marine environment and the potential for research on marine organisms to bene®t mankind. This book presents 60 topics relevant to the author's theme, ranging across the whole spectrum of human health and disease: pharmacology, in¯ammation, endocrinology, cancer, cardiology and many more. The style of presentation is terse (no entry has more than a page of text) and there is a profusion of simple illustrations. Clearly, in such a format, a detailed scholarly exposition of each topic is impossible, but this is not the author's intention. While reading this book I found myself in turn informed, challenged and even irritated, because some
* Tel.: 11-843-792-4321; fax: 11-843-792-4322. PII: S 0145-305 X(01)00 077-5
of the parallels drawn between marine organisms and humans are a very long stretch indeed. Thus this book both informs and provokes, which I believe is what the author intended. I would recommend this book for high-school and undergraduate students, two groups for whom it should be particularly stimulating. However, even seasoned researchers will ®nd something in it to catch their attention. This is an electronically published book. It can be downloaded from the publisher's web-site (http:// www.1stbooks.com), at which one can also read the introductory page, entitled `The Sea Drug Store', which gives the ¯avor of the book. It can also be purchased as a regular paperback. Greg Warr* Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
www.elsevier.com/locate/devcompimm
Book review Treasures from the Sea for Medicine Albert C. Smith (2000) 1stBooks Library, Bloomington. $7.95 paperback, $5.95 electronic version This little book is interesting for two reasons: its subject matter and the manner of its publication. The author is a practicing pathologist who also has a PhD, holds several academic appointments of the marine kind, and is clearly passionate about the marine environment and the potential for research on marine organisms to bene®t mankind. This book presents 60 topics relevant to the author's theme, ranging across the whole spectrum of human health and disease: pharmacology, in¯ammation, endocrinology, cancer, cardiology and many more. The style of presentation is terse (no entry has more than a page of text) and there is a profusion of simple illustrations. Clearly, in such a format, a detailed scholarly exposition of each topic is impossible, but this is not the author's intention. While reading this book I found myself in turn informed, challenged and even irritated, because some
* Tel.: 11-843-792-4321; fax: 11-843-792-4322. PII: S 0145-305 X(01)00 077-5
of the parallels drawn between marine organisms and humans are a very long stretch indeed. Thus this book both informs and provokes, which I believe is what the author intended. I would recommend this book for high-school and undergraduate students, two groups for whom it should be particularly stimulating. However, even seasoned researchers will ®nd something in it to catch their attention. This is an electronically published book. It can be downloaded from the publisher's web-site (http:// www.1stbooks.com), at which one can also read the introductory page, entitled `The Sea Drug Store', which gives the ¯avor of the book. It can also be purchased as a regular paperback. Greg Warr* Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA E-mail address: [email protected]