Not since I read Sir Peter Medawar's essays on science and scientists have I encountered such clarity in language and thought and a commitment to portray science as it is really practiced, subject to the same motivations and biases as any other human endeavor. The first section of the book, "The Wisdom and Folly of Scientists" deals with such issues. The tempo and style of Klein's writing is defined early in the book in the essay "The Emperor's New Clothes" (my favorite in this collection). In this story he explains the phenomenon of scientific "conformism", the tendency of scientists to accept or reject a new finding without critical thinking, and how this may hinder or even damage scientific research.

In the essay "Are Scientists Creative" Klein uses the biologist Sol Speigelmann's dilemma, Is my work worth anything? (Something that many scientists must have agonized over at some point) to explore the nature of scientific creativity and to contrast it with the artistic temperament.

In "Ultima Thule" he talks to the German geneticist Benno-Muller Hill about the ugly history of the eugenics movement and its culmination in the mass murder of Jews. How could this have happened? How could respectable scientists commit such unspeakable misuses of science? Were they all psychopaths? Klein discovers some surprising answers. One would have thought that after the excesses of the Second World War and our current understanding of genetics, the theory of genetic inequality would have been finally put to rest. Instead, this distasteful topic keeps surfacing every now and then. H.J Muller's 'genetic deterioration' hypothesis, our attitudes towards AIDS patients and Singapore's "race improvement" program through preferential matrimony are recent examples of such misguided thinking. Will we ever shake ourselves free of these prejudices? Klein offers no easy answers, just a warning to keep vigil.

In the section Viruses and Cancer, Klein displays his abilities to explain the difficult concepts of virology, genetics and cell biology in uncomplicated and understandable language. The essay "The Tale of the Great Cuckoo Egg" is particularly fascinating. It traces the history of cancer research, from the early days when all cancer was thought to be of viral origin to its present state of understanding. The story beautifully illustrates how 'pet theories', coincidences and pure dumb luck all played their part in some of the most important discoveries of 20th century biology, finally leading to the discovery of oncogenes, the growth regulatoy genes of the cell.

La Condition Humaine, the final section, is also the most philosophical, as Klein reflects on our will to live, our sexuality, attitudes towards death and dying and religion. 'Eternal Printemps' begins with some entertaining examples of our attitudes towards sex. Klein uses quite a few examples, from classical music to the sexual mores in Sweden, the Masai and the orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem to summarize his 'kaleidoscope of sexuality'. A section on sex as a genetic process and how it evolved as the dominant mode of reproduction in the eukaryotes, puts the preceding discussion on human sexuality in a more sobering perspective.

The last chapter 'The Atheist and the Holy City' set in Jerusalem, is his most personal writing. Here, George Klein, scientist, humanist, philosopher, attempts to reconcile his atheist beliefs in a city steeped in religion. No one can convince him of the existence of God. The scars of Auschwitz are too deep to heal. What has this century taught us? Where is mankind heading? Like Peter Medawar, Klein also believes that this century has been what it is because of science, and this conviction resonates throughout his writings.

In the end, this book is George Klein's personal journey, undertaken to make sense of some of humanities most basic constructs; religion, sexuality, ethics and morality, how they conflict with, and are sometimes better understood within the framework of modern biological thought. I suppose, anyone who has lived the life he has, will finally have something to say. As he admits in the preface," the words have welled up in me. I needed only step aside and watch them flow". Indeed they flow, in a calm, soothing, passionate and gently persuasive manner. We need to just immerse ourselves in them to experience the mind of an extraordinary scientist.

Long and his wife retrace portions of the trail and report on the status of several of the wildlife and plant species that Lewis and Clark described in their original journals. We learn about the black-tailed prairie dog, the grizzly bear, the American bison, the Missouri River beaver, the Westslope cutthroat, the Columbia sharptail grouse, the Whitebark pine and the Clark's nutcracker, the wolf and the coyote, the White sturgeon and the Great Plains cottonwood. We learn why and how these animals and plants matter today.

Long, although his view is clear, does not resort to the adversarial language that pushes opposing forces further apart. He reminds us that, "There is too much at stake for us to give pessimism a chance. There is still too much to be lost."

Grouse dancing at dawn on some remote and windswept lek. After reading this book I want to see for myself.