In 1969, a Harvard Medical School group headed by Jon Beckwith accomplished a first in molecular biology--the isolation of a gene...When their paper appeared in Nature, they held an extraordinary press conference in which they described their work and warned of the danger that it might lead to...The press conference received international media coverage, and Beckwith found himself embarked on a double career--a continuing one in research and a new one of social activism in science. His Making Genes, Making Waves is an absorbing account of how these two strands in his life were woven into a durable braid. The prose is straightforward, and Beckwith is refreshingly frank, revealing the divagations and doubts that marked his course in research.
   --Daniel J. Kevles, American Scientist

In this beautifully written autobiography, Beckwith...vividly describes aspects of the 'cultural revolution in science that molecular biology brought with it,' epitomized by...major public controversies about genetics in the United States from the 1960s...Beckwith has portrayed a fascinating period in the history of modern biology and of the interaction of science and society in the Western world. Thanks to him and other activists, social injustices resulting from the application of genetics are now widely discussed and, in democracies, meet with legal measures and regulation. In this book Beckwith, a committed scientist...calls for greater humility about what science can and cannot accomplish. This is a call that scientists would do well to take seriously.
   --Ute Deichmann, Nature

Jon Beckwith in Making Genes, Making Waves reminds us that he first warned about the social impact of genetic engineering back in 1969. His autobiography shows what hard work it is to combine science and politics, to keep different networks of interests alive.
   --New Scientist

Making Genes, Making Waves consists of a generally chronological series of vignettes detailing Beckwith's role in raising the consciousness of the genetics community and the public ("making waves") interspersed with brief descriptions of his laboratory research problems at various times ("making genes"). The prose is crisp, the episodes engaging and, as a heuristic of a successful modern American scientist with a social conscience, the book is probably without peer.
   --Jonathan Marks, The Nation

This autobiography charts [Beckwith's] journey through both aspects of his life in the second half of the 20th century: the research of his professional career, and his personal crusade to inform society of biological developments and involve us all in deciding how the new knowledge should be applied. Since he has made a significant contribution in both areas, the book is a fascinating read. He provides a frank but kindly description of his collaborators and other researchers, and an insightful account of science as practiced in several very different laboratories...Society is very much the better for the efforts of those such as Beckwith who clearly enjoy the challenge of describing complex issues to non-specialists and participating in debates as to how new knowledge should be used.
   --Ian Wilmut, Times Higher Education Supplement

Making Genes, Making Waves is a compelling history of the controversies in genetics over the last half century.
   --Carmen Chica, International Microbiology

[This is] a summation of Stephen Jay Gould's life work...
   --David Baltimore, President, California Institute of Technology, and Alice S. Huang, Senior Councilor for External Relations, California Institute of Technology

T]here is no doubt that this is a profound and major contribution to evolutionary theory...
   --Troy Duster, Professor of Sociology, New York University

By literary standards The Structure of Evolutionary Theory is unique...
   --Anne Fausto-Sterling, Professor of Biology and Women's Studies, Brown University, and author of Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality

Hadot brings all his concerns together in a small volume of extraordinary erudition ...[t]he summa of a distinguished career.
   --Neil A. Holtzman, M.D.,M.P.H., Professor Emeritus, Pediatrics, Health Policy, Epidemiology, The Johns Hopkins University

[A] compelling distillation in which we learn three primary things about William James.
   --Philip Kitcher, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University

[A] small but very stimulating book.
   --Sheldon Krimsky, Profess of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University

[O]ne of the world's most respected living philosophers, Canada's Charles Taylor, is taking a fresh look at James's classic.
   --Jonathan Marks, Deptartment of Sociology and Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

[A] thoughtfully constructed book that brings light to several aspects of tenure and related issues...
   --Prof. Benno Müller-Hill, Institut für Genetik, Universität zu Köln

Cuban's book is a must-read for politicians, parents, school administrators, teachers, technophiles and technophobes.
   --Dorothy Nelkin, Professor of Law and Sociology, New York University

[Cuban] shows that most investments in computers in the schools provide very poor returns...
   --François Jacob

Author photo: Harvard Medical Area News Office

Jon Beckwith is American Cancer Society Research Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School.