Making genes, making waves : a social activist in science / Jon Beckwith.

By:

Beckwith, Jonathan R

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2002.Description: 1 online resource (242 pages) : illustrationsContent type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780674020672
0674020677

Subject(s): Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Making genes, making waves.DDC classification:

576.5/092 22

LOC classification:

QH429.2.B38 A3 2002eb

NLM classification:

2002 M-319
WZ 100

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

1. The Quail Farmer and the Scientist -- 2. Becoming a Scientist -- 3. Becoming an Activist -- 4. On Which Side Are the Angels? -- 5. The Tarantella of the Living -- 6. Does Science Take a Back Seat to Politics? -- 7. Their Own Atomic History -- 8. The Myth of the Criminal Chromosome -- 9. It's the Devil in Your DNA -- 10. I'm Not Very Scary Anymore -- 11. Story-Telling in Science -- 12. Geneticists and the Two Cultures -- 13. The Scientist and the Quail Farmer.

Summary: In 1969, Jon Beckwith and his colleagues succeeded in isolating a gene from the chromosome of a living organism. Announcing this startling achievement at a press conference, Beckwith took the opportunity to issue a public warning about the dangers of genetic engineering. Jon Beckwith's book, the story of a scientific life on the front line, traces one remarkable man's dual commitment to scientific research and social responsibility over the course of a career spanning most of the postwar history of genetics and molecular biology. A thoroughly engrossing memoir that recounts Beckwith's halting steps toward scientific triumphs--among them, the discovery of the genetic element that turns genes on--as well as his emergence as a world-class political activist, Making Genes, Making Waves is also a compelling history of the major controversies in genetics over the last thirty years. Presenting the science in easily understandable terms, Beckwith describes the dramatic changes that transformed biology between the late 1950s and our day, the growth of the radical science movement in the 1970s, and the personalities involved throughout. He brings to light the differing styles of scientists as well as the different ways in which science is presented within the scientific community and to the public at large. Ranging from the travails of Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb to the Human Genome Project and recent "Science Wars," Beckwith's book provides a sweeping view of science and its social context in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Item type:

Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Materials specified	Status	Date due	Barcode
Electronic-Books	OPJGU Sonepat- Campus	E-Books EBSCO			Available

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-226) and index.

Print version record.

In 1969, Jon Beckwith and his colleagues succeeded in isolating a gene from the chromosome of a living organism. Announcing this startling achievement at a press conference, Beckwith took the opportunity to issue a public warning about the dangers of genetic engineering. Jon Beckwith's book, the story of a scientific life on the front line, traces one remarkable man's dual commitment to scientific research and social responsibility over the course of a career spanning most of the postwar history of genetics and molecular biology. A thoroughly engrossing memoir that recounts Beckwith's halting steps toward scientific triumphs--among them, the discovery of the genetic element that turns genes on--as well as his emergence as a world-class political activist, Making Genes, Making Waves is also a compelling history of the major controversies in genetics over the last thirty years. Presenting the science in easily understandable terms, Beckwith describes the dramatic changes that transformed biology between the late 1950s and our day, the growth of the radical science movement in the 1970s, and the personalities involved throughout. He brings to light the differing styles of scientists as well as the different ways in which science is presented within the scientific community and to the public at large. Ranging from the travails of Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb to the Human Genome Project and recent "Science Wars," Beckwith's book provides a sweeping view of science and its social context in the latter half of the twentieth century.

English.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.