I'm unable to read Weissmann without comparing him to Lewis Thomas: his book's foreword was written by Thomas; he knew him and makes reference to him; their books are filed next to one another on the library shelf. And yes, this is a collection of essays on biology, medicine, and society.

But Weissmann's concerns are somewhat different. He tends to be explicitly theoretical and philosophical, connecting biomedicine with literature. He keeps coming back to the "two cultures" -- or, he says, maybe it's only one and a half. These essays are often topical: public health, mental illness, abortion, Freud, genetic engineering, the modern novel. More society than science, really, and the author seems to take himself more seriously than is strictly necessary; worth reading nonetheless.

eub 7/96