BIO

VO LUME 8 N UMB ER 3

SEPTEM BE R 2009

Published in Association with Stony Brook University

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

317SEPTEMBER 2009 NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS

important points The first is that we need to move from focusing on individual species to understandshying the complexity of the marine realm as a whole The second is that we need to revise our ideas of scale Changes in one pan of che oceans can have dramatic effects thousands of kilometers away By living at such a large scale whales help convey a key message if we arc to conseJve our oceans we have to look beyond national boundaries and tntly see the picture

RoB HARCOUIH Graduate School of the Environshyment lvlacqurnie University -~vdney New South Wales A ustralia

0RANCOTANS GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN BEHAVshy

IORAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Edited by Serge A Wick S Suci Utami A tmoko Tatang Mitra Setia and Carel P van Schaik Oxford and New YYrk Oxford University Press $12500 xxxi + 408 p ill index ISBN 978-0-19shy921327-6 2009

Th e orangutans of Sumatra and Borneo were the last of the great apes to be the subject of long-tenn field studies and because of their middotdatively solishytary almost totally arboreal habit~ many aspects of their biology (especially genetics and life history) are still relatively poorly documented compared with the gorillas and chimpanzees of Africa Nevshyertheless these large red apes have now been the subject of field studies at over a dozen sites some going back nearly 40 years so that researchers can begin to look at ecological morphological and behavioral differences between populations to obshytai n a broader and deeper picture of their biolofgty even as they stand on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss

This book is an impressive collaborative eflon with over 70 authors contributing to a series of broad com parative chapters that document what we do and do not know about the similarities and diffe tmiddotences among separate orangutan populashytions in many parts of Northern Sumatra and Borneo The multiauthored review chapters filled wi th abundant tables maps an d charts provide an authoritative description and summary of numershyous aspect~ of orangutan biology including popushylation genetics jaw morphology positional behavshyior vocal and sound repertoires life history dem ography activity budgets diet parasites fegt male reproduction behavioral development rangshying behavior male-male relations mating behavshyior and straubullgics social organization ecological sex differences nest building innovation and inshytelligence culture population biology and consershyvation and rehabilitation and reintroduction

The fin al chap ter is a particularly impressive synthesis of t11e results of earlier discussions The

authors find a consistent ecological and behavioral cline from Northern Su matra in the west to eastshyern Borneo in orangutan habitats-decreasing forest productivity and increasing impact of mast fruiting events--that are associated with behav~ ioral differences 1hus in the same west to east dine orangutans show more robust jaws greater reliance on nonfrit fallback foods smaller female home ranges and day ranges decreasing sociabilshyity smaller cultural repertoires and fewer comshyplex innovations as well a~ shorter interbirth inshytervals This coordinated v-aliation across manv study sites offers a powerful base that the autho~ can use to tmderstand the mechanisms underlying the diversity in orangutan behavior This is behavshyioral ecology and evolutionary biology at its finest

j oHN G FLEAG LE A natomical Sciences Brook University Sto-ny Brook New York

THE RETURN OF CARIBOU TO UNGAVA McGillshyQueen~~ Native and Northern Series Volume 50

By A T Bergemd Stuart N Luttich and L odewijk Camps Montreal (Canada) McGill-QWIilts Univnc sity Press $4995 xxxix + 586 p + 36 pl ill index ISBN 978()7735-3233-5 2008

This is a much more ambitious book than the title would indicate The a uthors usc the dramatic inshycrease and later decline in abundance of caribou on rhe Ungava Peninsula of northeastern Canada as a framework by which to explore a variety of factors that potentially influence caribou populashytion dynamics Bergerud et a draw extensively on published research pertaining to caribou and reindeer ac ross the No rthern Hemisphere makshying this a comprehensive reference on the biology of Rangifer This is not light reading (both figurashytively and literally as the volume weighs in at 175 kg) and readers seeking a general interest natural history book may be intimidated H owever bioloshygists and serious students will value this work for its stimulating discussion and as a point of en try into the large body of literature about caribou

The book includes 16 chapters that cover cmishybou biology taxonomy distribution behavior enshyergetics predator-prey relationships population trends and limiting factors The fin al chapter synshythesizes this material to support the authors conshytention that food quality and abundance during summer and to a lesser exten t predation are the main factors that regulate large migratory caribou herds The volume includes brief d iscussion bv anthropologist Stephen Loring about aboriginal use of caribou as well as an appendix th at deshyscribes a model of summer energy budgets The text is readable despite its technical nature and the book is well-illustrated with graphs maps and photographs The 36 color plates will help readers

~18 Tl-IF QUAR17~RJ YRlcVEW OF BIOU JCY V oLUME 84 SEPTEMBER 2009

visualize the environment in which these animal live Noticeably lacking is an overall map showing the location of the Ungava Peninsula this could be confusing f()r readers unhuniliar with eastern Canada I f( nmd some of the material to be a bit redundant but this a llows each chapter to stand alone as a relltcrence to a particular topic (which mav be the best wav to use this book) This volume is r~asonably priced l(H- its size but this tXonomv is evident in the quality of the binding the spine of mv copy began to tear before I had finished readshying it

Publishing in book fom1 rath er than within the narrow limits of a rigorous technicaijournal allows Bergerud et a the freedom to express their opinshyions and theories and rhev make good use of this opportunity Readers are tuniliar with carishybou research mav with some of the aushythors interpretati ons Nevertheless this broadshyranging synthesis of decades o f research by a team of respected tield biologists is a valuable contribushytion to the study and management of caribou

SnPHEN of ARTHUR Alaska n~parlntmlofFish amp Game Fa irbrmks Alaska

llUMAN BIOLOGY A ND HEALTH

THE HuMAN GENOME PROJtc r TN CorIEGE CuRshyRICUIlJM ETHI CAL I SS U ES AN D PRACTICAL STRATshy

EGJ ES

rrlitrd lry Aine lJonovan and Nonald M Drrwn Dartshyrrwuth ColiRge Ptess Hano ver (Nno HmnpshiTr ) Unishyversity Press of Nev Fngland $50 00 ix + 188 p ill index ISBN 978-l-58465-695- 1 2008

Started in I990 the Human Genome Projec t (HGP) was a 13-vear effo rt that mapped the three billion letters that spell o u t the human race tniqudy the H GP was the firs t mass ive scien tilic undertaking to address e th ical legal and social issues (ELSI) as an integral part of th e pn~ject

iL~elf Tlw Human (nwme lmyct in Colt1~f Cunitushylum rthual fl-sues and Practical StratlpiPs is a collecshytion of 13 in terdisciplinary essays that address the range of ELSI implications of the HGP The aushythors do a goodjoh of keeping essays grounded in the practical and at a ievel to which students can relate The essav Gene Therapy Gattata and Sara Goering describes the paired use of a popular film and an academ ic publ ication to teach about binshyethics and the essay Best Inte rests and My Sister Kefjersimilarly anchors the to pic of patient rights in a best-selling noveL

Approximately one-half of the chapters are deshy

signed as pedagogic resources featuring guides and sample questio ns For example Lbe essay God Science and Designer Ge nes featu res sections about worldviews of the topic an d a d iscussion abo u t teaching this issue a t a affili ated institution In th e essay Designer Genes T eaching th e Et hics of Genetic Research with Cl ustered Course the authors propose and discuss a fin al pntien for students that they themselves have used vith success Nawre and Culture Teaching ELgtl in a Historv-of-Scien ce Course offers seven topics that could be used e ither for gmu p discussions or for student paper assignment In each teaching essav the authors draw on their own experiences and describe their reaching process in addition to

the outcomes and conclusions nf having taught these topics The result is a m ulti layered explorashytion of the poten tial for engagin g stud ents in these bscinating yet nuanced topics

P HYLLJS FROSST National Human Grn ome RPshywwrdz f nstitutr National I nstitults of H ealth Beshythesda iHaryland

A SHORT HrsToRY OF MEnrcAL GltNn tcs OxjOTd Honorraphs on Merliral Gmetits Volwrll 5 7

8y Petnmiddot S HarjNr Oxford and New York Oxj(Jrr Univlt~UV Press $55 00 xi + 557 p ill index ISBN 978-0-19-5 18750-2 2008

Lewis Tho m as wrote a short boo k The Youngest Srien tf Notes oa MNlicine-Wa trhn ( 1983 New Yo rk

Press) in whi c h h e d escribed medicin e as shifbng from an art (mixed wit h wishful thinking) to a scie n ce in th e 1930s wh e n su lfa drugs were introduced a nd com mo n disea~es suc h as pneushymonia cou ld be successfull y treated [f we g ranr medicine a~ Lhe youngest scie nce then one of iLlt

offsp ring human and medical genetics is even younger We a re fortu nate that the first fu ll-length treatme nt of the history of this fie ld has a p peared Peter H arper a medical geneticist at Card iff has written an outstanding history of th e e mergence of human and medical gen etics (but m o stly th e latshyte r ) At 557 pages this is by no means as b rief as the title implies but as a reading of his book dearly portrays th e arnoum o f infonnation the number of colla te ra l disciplines and th e number of unresolved ways these fi e lds have emerged arc sti ll awaiting historica l attention

Harper depicts four phases in this history The first is th e long quest for seekin g human susceptishybility to disease some believing a constitutional predisposition existed in popu lations or even withi n Euni lies and o thers believing th e environshyment in some way was the chief fo r all d iseases Although many physicians made pedishygrees of a son in the 19th century none surmised a VIendelian basis for some disorders that were

clearlv X-linked or aut ond phase was the emlt degerHracy them-v in t

and then as eugenics st

to the end of World the rise of hurnan genbull eugenics in the afterm excesses of -Jazi rnun 1iiller-Hill called it)_ shyroughly in 1960 w a_lt 1

genetics with irs geneti nosis clinical cnogen and the yet-to-be-routiJ d isorders Harpers blt rated into f-ive sections devoted to the rise of c tells the story of how nmiddot of classical genetics hu Chapters 5 to 9 medi Chapte rs I 0 through l cupy ( bapte rs 1) to 17 ter is d evoted to the net a nd medical genetics

If we imagined there movem ent the story of ics would have resemble molecular genetics he p lications to reform slt stead new knowledge t

agriculture horticuhur fi elds That did not hap] the age of Enlighten me the idea of p rogress anlt Good inten tions unfor unintend ed outcomes tJe hygiene moYement ve l oped it in Germany w inspection of foods thlt supply the health exa1 d ren and the lmiddotee rna d iseases that the germ ti t1n d ings of Pasteur Ko had good intenrions-tl heredity spreading in th though t took root in th nately little was known d e fects and metabolic di~ lvi th babies that failed tlt infectious d iseases that ( focus on ad ul ts whose f we ight led to crim inal tarded persons wh o cou pers who never seemed n neighborhoods even wh called charitv or relief ar whose erratic behavior wlt Social h ilun became th

317SEPTEMBER 2009 NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS

important points The first is that we need to move from focusing on individual species to understandshying the complexity of the marine realm as a whole The second is that we need to revise our ideas of scale Changes in one pan of che oceans can have dramatic effects thousands of kilometers away By living at such a large scale whales help convey a key message if we arc to conseJve our oceans we have to look beyond national boundaries and tntly see the picture

RoB HARCOUIH Graduate School of the Environshyment lvlacqurnie University -~vdney New South Wales A ustralia

0RANCOTANS GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN BEHAVshy

IORAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Edited by Serge A Wick S Suci Utami A tmoko Tatang Mitra Setia and Carel P van Schaik Oxford and New YYrk Oxford University Press $12500 xxxi + 408 p ill index ISBN 978-0-19shy921327-6 2009

Th e orangutans of Sumatra and Borneo were the last of the great apes to be the subject of long-tenn field studies and because of their middotdatively solishytary almost totally arboreal habit~ many aspects of their biology (especially genetics and life history) are still relatively poorly documented compared with the gorillas and chimpanzees of Africa Nevshyertheless these large red apes have now been the subject of field studies at over a dozen sites some going back nearly 40 years so that researchers can begin to look at ecological morphological and behavioral differences between populations to obshytai n a broader and deeper picture of their biolofgty even as they stand on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss

This book is an impressive collaborative eflon with over 70 authors contributing to a series of broad com parative chapters that document what we do and do not know about the similarities and diffe tmiddotences among separate orangutan populashytions in many parts of Northern Sumatra and Borneo The multiauthored review chapters filled wi th abundant tables maps an d charts provide an authoritative description and summary of numershyous aspect~ of orangutan biology including popushylation genetics jaw morphology positional behavshyior vocal and sound repertoires life history dem ography activity budgets diet parasites fegt male reproduction behavioral development rangshying behavior male-male relations mating behavshyior and straubullgics social organization ecological sex differences nest building innovation and inshytelligence culture population biology and consershyvation and rehabilitation and reintroduction

The fin al chap ter is a particularly impressive synthesis of t11e results of earlier discussions The

authors find a consistent ecological and behavioral cline from Northern Su matra in the west to eastshyern Borneo in orangutan habitats-decreasing forest productivity and increasing impact of mast fruiting events--that are associated with behav~ ioral differences 1hus in the same west to east dine orangutans show more robust jaws greater reliance on nonfrit fallback foods smaller female home ranges and day ranges decreasing sociabilshyity smaller cultural repertoires and fewer comshyplex innovations as well a~ shorter interbirth inshytervals This coordinated v-aliation across manv study sites offers a powerful base that the autho~ can use to tmderstand the mechanisms underlying the diversity in orangutan behavior This is behavshyioral ecology and evolutionary biology at its finest

j oHN G FLEAG LE A natomical Sciences Brook University Sto-ny Brook New York

THE RETURN OF CARIBOU TO UNGAVA McGillshyQueen~~ Native and Northern Series Volume 50

By A T Bergemd Stuart N Luttich and L odewijk Camps Montreal (Canada) McGill-QWIilts Univnc sity Press $4995 xxxix + 586 p + 36 pl ill index ISBN 978()7735-3233-5 2008

This is a much more ambitious book than the title would indicate The a uthors usc the dramatic inshycrease and later decline in abundance of caribou on rhe Ungava Peninsula of northeastern Canada as a framework by which to explore a variety of factors that potentially influence caribou populashytion dynamics Bergerud et a draw extensively on published research pertaining to caribou and reindeer ac ross the No rthern Hemisphere makshying this a comprehensive reference on the biology of Rangifer This is not light reading (both figurashytively and literally as the volume weighs in at 175 kg) and readers seeking a general interest natural history book may be intimidated H owever bioloshygists and serious students will value this work for its stimulating discussion and as a point of en try into the large body of literature about caribou

The book includes 16 chapters that cover cmishybou biology taxonomy distribution behavior enshyergetics predator-prey relationships population trends and limiting factors The fin al chapter synshythesizes this material to support the authors conshytention that food quality and abundance during summer and to a lesser exten t predation are the main factors that regulate large migratory caribou herds The volume includes brief d iscussion bv anthropologist Stephen Loring about aboriginal use of caribou as well as an appendix th at deshyscribes a model of summer energy budgets The text is readable despite its technical nature and the book is well-illustrated with graphs maps and photographs The 36 color plates will help readers

~18 Tl-IF QUAR17~RJ YRlcVEW OF BIOU JCY V oLUME 84 SEPTEMBER 2009

visualize the environment in which these animal live Noticeably lacking is an overall map showing the location of the Ungava Peninsula this could be confusing f()r readers unhuniliar with eastern Canada I f( nmd some of the material to be a bit redundant but this a llows each chapter to stand alone as a relltcrence to a particular topic (which mav be the best wav to use this book) This volume is r~asonably priced l(H- its size but this tXonomv is evident in the quality of the binding the spine of mv copy began to tear before I had finished readshying it

Publishing in book fom1 rath er than within the narrow limits of a rigorous technicaijournal allows Bergerud et a the freedom to express their opinshyions and theories and rhev make good use of this opportunity Readers are tuniliar with carishybou research mav with some of the aushythors interpretati ons Nevertheless this broadshyranging synthesis of decades o f research by a team of respected tield biologists is a valuable contribushytion to the study and management of caribou

SnPHEN of ARTHUR Alaska n~parlntmlofFish amp Game Fa irbrmks Alaska

llUMAN BIOLOGY A ND HEALTH

THE HuMAN GENOME PROJtc r TN CorIEGE CuRshyRICUIlJM ETHI CAL I SS U ES AN D PRACTICAL STRATshy

EGJ ES

rrlitrd lry Aine lJonovan and Nonald M Drrwn Dartshyrrwuth ColiRge Ptess Hano ver (Nno HmnpshiTr ) Unishyversity Press of Nev Fngland $50 00 ix + 188 p ill index ISBN 978-l-58465-695- 1 2008

Started in I990 the Human Genome Projec t (HGP) was a 13-vear effo rt that mapped the three billion letters that spell o u t the human race tniqudy the H GP was the firs t mass ive scien tilic undertaking to address e th ical legal and social issues (ELSI) as an integral part of th e pn~ject

iL~elf Tlw Human (nwme lmyct in Colt1~f Cunitushylum rthual fl-sues and Practical StratlpiPs is a collecshytion of 13 in terdisciplinary essays that address the range of ELSI implications of the HGP The aushythors do a goodjoh of keeping essays grounded in the practical and at a ievel to which students can relate The essav Gene Therapy Gattata and Sara Goering describes the paired use of a popular film and an academ ic publ ication to teach about binshyethics and the essay Best Inte rests and My Sister Kefjersimilarly anchors the to pic of patient rights in a best-selling noveL

Approximately one-half of the chapters are deshy

signed as pedagogic resources featuring guides and sample questio ns For example Lbe essay God Science and Designer Ge nes featu res sections about worldviews of the topic an d a d iscussion abo u t teaching this issue a t a affili ated institution In th e essay Designer Genes T eaching th e Et hics of Genetic Research with Cl ustered Course the authors propose and discuss a fin al pntien for students that they themselves have used vith success Nawre and Culture Teaching ELgtl in a Historv-of-Scien ce Course offers seven topics that could be used e ither for gmu p discussions or for student paper assignment In each teaching essav the authors draw on their own experiences and describe their reaching process in addition to

the outcomes and conclusions nf having taught these topics The result is a m ulti layered explorashytion of the poten tial for engagin g stud ents in these bscinating yet nuanced topics

P HYLLJS FROSST National Human Grn ome RPshywwrdz f nstitutr National I nstitults of H ealth Beshythesda iHaryland

A SHORT HrsToRY OF MEnrcAL GltNn tcs OxjOTd Honorraphs on Merliral Gmetits Volwrll 5 7

8y Petnmiddot S HarjNr Oxford and New York Oxj(Jrr Univlt~UV Press $55 00 xi + 557 p ill index ISBN 978-0-19-5 18750-2 2008

Lewis Tho m as wrote a short boo k The Youngest Srien tf Notes oa MNlicine-Wa trhn ( 1983 New Yo rk

Press) in whi c h h e d escribed medicin e as shifbng from an art (mixed wit h wishful thinking) to a scie n ce in th e 1930s wh e n su lfa drugs were introduced a nd com mo n disea~es suc h as pneushymonia cou ld be successfull y treated [f we g ranr medicine a~ Lhe youngest scie nce then one of iLlt

offsp ring human and medical genetics is even younger We a re fortu nate that the first fu ll-length treatme nt of the history of this fie ld has a p peared Peter H arper a medical geneticist at Card iff has written an outstanding history of th e e mergence of human and medical gen etics (but m o stly th e latshyte r ) At 557 pages this is by no means as b rief as the title implies but as a reading of his book dearly portrays th e arnoum o f infonnation the number of colla te ra l disciplines and th e number of unresolved ways these fi e lds have emerged arc sti ll awaiting historica l attention

Harper depicts four phases in this history The first is th e long quest for seekin g human susceptishybility to disease some believing a constitutional predisposition existed in popu lations or even withi n Euni lies and o thers believing th e environshyment in some way was the chief fo r all d iseases Although many physicians made pedishygrees of a son in the 19th century none surmised a VIendelian basis for some disorders that were

clearlv X-linked or aut ond phase was the emlt degerHracy them-v in t

and then as eugenics st

to the end of World the rise of hurnan genbull eugenics in the afterm excesses of -Jazi rnun 1iiller-Hill called it)_ shyroughly in 1960 w a_lt 1

genetics with irs geneti nosis clinical cnogen and the yet-to-be-routiJ d isorders Harpers blt rated into f-ive sections devoted to the rise of c tells the story of how nmiddot of classical genetics hu Chapters 5 to 9 medi Chapte rs I 0 through l cupy ( bapte rs 1) to 17 ter is d evoted to the net a nd medical genetics

If we imagined there movem ent the story of ics would have resemble molecular genetics he p lications to reform slt stead new knowledge t

agriculture horticuhur fi elds That did not hap] the age of Enlighten me the idea of p rogress anlt Good inten tions unfor unintend ed outcomes tJe hygiene moYement ve l oped it in Germany w inspection of foods thlt supply the health exa1 d ren and the lmiddotee rna d iseases that the germ ti t1n d ings of Pasteur Ko had good intenrions-tl heredity spreading in th though t took root in th nately little was known d e fects and metabolic di~ lvi th babies that failed tlt infectious d iseases that ( focus on ad ul ts whose f we ight led to crim inal tarded persons wh o cou pers who never seemed n neighborhoods even wh called charitv or relief ar whose erratic behavior wlt Social h ilun became th

~18 Tl-IF QUAR17~RJ YRlcVEW OF BIOU JCY V oLUME 84 SEPTEMBER 2009

visualize the environment in which these animal live Noticeably lacking is an overall map showing the location of the Ungava Peninsula this could be confusing f()r readers unhuniliar with eastern Canada I f( nmd some of the material to be a bit redundant but this a llows each chapter to stand alone as a relltcrence to a particular topic (which mav be the best wav to use this book) This volume is r~asonably priced l(H- its size but this tXonomv is evident in the quality of the binding the spine of mv copy began to tear before I had finished readshying it

Publishing in book fom1 rath er than within the narrow limits of a rigorous technicaijournal allows Bergerud et a the freedom to express their opinshyions and theories and rhev make good use of this opportunity Readers are tuniliar with carishybou research mav with some of the aushythors interpretati ons Nevertheless this broadshyranging synthesis of decades o f research by a team of respected tield biologists is a valuable contribushytion to the study and management of caribou

SnPHEN of ARTHUR Alaska n~parlntmlofFish amp Game Fa irbrmks Alaska

llUMAN BIOLOGY A ND HEALTH

THE HuMAN GENOME PROJtc r TN CorIEGE CuRshyRICUIlJM ETHI CAL I SS U ES AN D PRACTICAL STRATshy

EGJ ES

rrlitrd lry Aine lJonovan and Nonald M Drrwn Dartshyrrwuth ColiRge Ptess Hano ver (Nno HmnpshiTr ) Unishyversity Press of Nev Fngland $50 00 ix + 188 p ill index ISBN 978-l-58465-695- 1 2008

Started in I990 the Human Genome Projec t (HGP) was a 13-vear effo rt that mapped the three billion letters that spell o u t the human race tniqudy the H GP was the firs t mass ive scien tilic undertaking to address e th ical legal and social issues (ELSI) as an integral part of th e pn~ject

iL~elf Tlw Human (nwme lmyct in Colt1~f Cunitushylum rthual fl-sues and Practical StratlpiPs is a collecshytion of 13 in terdisciplinary essays that address the range of ELSI implications of the HGP The aushythors do a goodjoh of keeping essays grounded in the practical and at a ievel to which students can relate The essav Gene Therapy Gattata and Sara Goering describes the paired use of a popular film and an academ ic publ ication to teach about binshyethics and the essay Best Inte rests and My Sister Kefjersimilarly anchors the to pic of patient rights in a best-selling noveL

Approximately one-half of the chapters are deshy

signed as pedagogic resources featuring guides and sample questio ns For example Lbe essay God Science and Designer Ge nes featu res sections about worldviews of the topic an d a d iscussion abo u t teaching this issue a t a affili ated institution In th e essay Designer Genes T eaching th e Et hics of Genetic Research with Cl ustered Course the authors propose and discuss a fin al pntien for students that they themselves have used vith success Nawre and Culture Teaching ELgtl in a Historv-of-Scien ce Course offers seven topics that could be used e ither for gmu p discussions or for student paper assignment In each teaching essav the authors draw on their own experiences and describe their reaching process in addition to

the outcomes and conclusions nf having taught these topics The result is a m ulti layered explorashytion of the poten tial for engagin g stud ents in these bscinating yet nuanced topics

P HYLLJS FROSST National Human Grn ome RPshywwrdz f nstitutr National I nstitults of H ealth Beshythesda iHaryland

A SHORT HrsToRY OF MEnrcAL GltNn tcs OxjOTd Honorraphs on Merliral Gmetits Volwrll 5 7

8y Petnmiddot S HarjNr Oxford and New York Oxj(Jrr Univlt~UV Press $55 00 xi + 557 p ill index ISBN 978-0-19-5 18750-2 2008

Lewis Tho m as wrote a short boo k The Youngest Srien tf Notes oa MNlicine-Wa trhn ( 1983 New Yo rk

Press) in whi c h h e d escribed medicin e as shifbng from an art (mixed wit h wishful thinking) to a scie n ce in th e 1930s wh e n su lfa drugs were introduced a nd com mo n disea~es suc h as pneushymonia cou ld be successfull y treated [f we g ranr medicine a~ Lhe youngest scie nce then one of iLlt

offsp ring human and medical genetics is even younger We a re fortu nate that the first fu ll-length treatme nt of the history of this fie ld has a p peared Peter H arper a medical geneticist at Card iff has written an outstanding history of th e e mergence of human and medical gen etics (but m o stly th e latshyte r ) At 557 pages this is by no means as b rief as the title implies but as a reading of his book dearly portrays th e arnoum o f infonnation the number of colla te ra l disciplines and th e number of unresolved ways these fi e lds have emerged arc sti ll awaiting historica l attention

Harper depicts four phases in this history The first is th e long quest for seekin g human susceptishybility to disease some believing a constitutional predisposition existed in popu lations or even withi n Euni lies and o thers believing th e environshyment in some way was the chief fo r all d iseases Although many physicians made pedishygrees of a son in the 19th century none surmised a VIendelian basis for some disorders that were

clearlv X-linked or aut ond phase was the emlt degerHracy them-v in t

and then as eugenics st

to the end of World the rise of hurnan genbull eugenics in the afterm excesses of -Jazi rnun 1iiller-Hill called it)_ shyroughly in 1960 w a_lt 1

genetics with irs geneti nosis clinical cnogen and the yet-to-be-routiJ d isorders Harpers blt rated into f-ive sections devoted to the rise of c tells the story of how nmiddot of classical genetics hu Chapters 5 to 9 medi Chapte rs I 0 through l cupy ( bapte rs 1) to 17 ter is d evoted to the net a nd medical genetics

If we imagined there movem ent the story of ics would have resemble molecular genetics he p lications to reform slt stead new knowledge t

agriculture horticuhur fi elds That did not hap] the age of Enlighten me the idea of p rogress anlt Good inten tions unfor unintend ed outcomes tJe hygiene moYement ve l oped it in Germany w inspection of foods thlt supply the health exa1 d ren and the lmiddotee rna d iseases that the germ ti t1n d ings of Pasteur Ko had good intenrions-tl heredity spreading in th though t took root in th nately little was known d e fects and metabolic di~ lvi th babies that failed tlt infectious d iseases that ( focus on ad ul ts whose f we ight led to crim inal tarded persons wh o cou pers who never seemed n neighborhoods even wh called charitv or relief ar whose erratic behavior wlt Social h ilun became th