Ideologie und Forschung in der Sowjetischen Naturwissenschaft.

by Arnold Buchholz
Review by: Conway Zirkle
The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Mar., 1956), pp. 35-36
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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 NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS 35

ized technicalcompetencyin whichmanyphilosophers familiar,his special emphasis on openness as a key

have been caught.Verywisely,indeed,ProfessorCohen concept is developed with some originality."Values,
statesthat,"A good deal oftheunsubstantiality oflater properlyspeaking,"he writes,"have realityonly in a
scholasticismwas no doubt due to the fact that having lifethatis livedin fullawarenessofwhatwe are doing.',
elaborateda verysubtletechnicalvocabulary,men felt He puts great store in what he calls becomingaware
themselvesto be distinguishedscholars by the mere inwardlyand knowingone's own substance: "reason is
masteryofsucha vocabulary.The changefromLatin to the responseof inwardnessto its hope and promise."
the vernacularrevealed this emptinessand compelled "Value," he says later,"cannot be taughtor learnedin
a greater attention to substantial content. But this a verbal formula,but only illuminatedby reflection
gain is now largelyfrittered away in philosophyand in and suggestivewisdom. Thus it is inward; it is the
the relatedfieldsof psychologyand sociology,in which livingbeingin its liveness,the livingprocesssensitive
exercisesin technicalvocabulary frequentlyhide the to its needs and responsiveto its promise; it is the
paucity of substantial insight." In some intelligible dynamicintegrityof the agent which appears to the
way, the criticalscientificmethodmust be applied to outwardobserveras theorganism-as-a-whole.... Value
the great classical views of the world. is the essenceoflife.... The passionforopennessis the
His disappointment with the philosophersis equaled effortof life to realize possible goodness.... Reason
by his recognitionof the inabilityof most scientiststo .... is the effortof lifeto become responsiveand re-
carryscientificmethodinto theirviews of otherphases sponsible.. . . Life is worthliving,lifein all forms....
of life and the world. Nor is he impressedwith the The activityof livinginvolves enjoymentof life's in-
greaterpart of the religiousand philosophiclessons ward essence,and the experienceof value is a forward
they have drawn from science. Consequently, his pressure.... How else could it be, if life's refinedin-
thesisis addressedin equal portionto the philosopher, tensityis lovingcompassionforcreative effort,and if
the scientist,and, in general,the thoughtful reader. its fruitionis openness?"
In a masterfulanalysis and expositionalmost all The argumentis sound froma philosophicalpoint of
phases of experienceand science are clarified,and the view, and raises problemsof great moment.It has a
servesto bringreason and naturetogether
clarification special appeal forthe biologist,since the authorviews
in a rational interpretationof the world we live in. life as a conditionof great pre-eminencein the uni-
Certainlythisis a volumewhichno studentor investi- verse,as may be inferredfromthe quotationsabove.
gator into the sciencesof lifeshould fail to study. These extracts,however,give only a sketchydelin-
R. G. GRENELL eation of the completepatternof the author'sthought,
and the whole text must be read throughwith careful
attentionif its contributionis to be fullyappreciated.
While the book is well-written,it will be followed
SCIENCEANDMAN'SHOPE. readilyonly by those who are accustomedto steeping
By James StreetFslton. Bookman Associates,New themselves in the contributionsof professionalphi-
York,for The Rice Institute. $3.25. 179 pp. 1954. losophers, which in their intense concentrationon
Scienceand Man's Hope is an attemptby a professional complicatedsequences of abstractionsmake extremely
philosopherto clarifythe relationshipsof ethics and difficult fareforthe ordinaryand less rarefiedmortalto
sciencein the 20thCentury.Fulton,considering himself absorb.Since the scientistswho writeon the philosophy
a qualifiedphilosophicalrationalist,startsout fromthe ofscienceare usuallyso patentlynaive, it is a pitythat
premisethat "while science itselfcannot defineman's the philosophersfail to address the scientistsin terms
hope, it can and does partly reveal it," whence he that they can more readilygrasp-that is, in a style
proceedsto the beliefthat "the special value of science that they can read withouttranslation.Is there not,
lies not in what it makes of the world but in what it forinstance,anotherway to say what the author has
makes of the knower,or, rather,in what he makes of writtenin the second of the quoted sentencesabove,
himselfin achievingveracityin cognition."His respect "achievingveracityin cognition"?But thisis a quarrel
forlifeis such thathe sees hope in heightenedaliveness, withthe habits of a disciplineand not withthe present
whichcan be won "only by the intellectualquickening author, whose book well deserves to be read with
ofsensibilityand the thoughtful strengthening of moral thoughtfulness by all thinkingbiologists.
ties, so that the intenser life essentially expresses JANE OPPENHEIMER
fidelityto naturein knowledgeand fidelityto man in
of the distinctively
loyal action. Intensification human
traitsin existence,"he continues,"requiresan opening
out of a man's vital centerto its real ties in the uni- IDEOLOGIE UNT) FORSCiUNG IN DER SOWJETISCHEN
verse." NATURWISSENSCHAFT. SchriftenreiheOsteuropaNr. 1.
"This is thepromiseof science,"he writes,"that man By ArnoldBuchholz. DeutscheVerlags-Anstalt Stutt-
may throughit achieve openness,awareness,and be gart. DM 2.90 (paper). 126 + ii pp. 1953.
fulfilled."While a good bit of his argument rings A condensedbut verycompleteand up-to-dateoutline

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36 THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY

of communistic
of the effects philosophy on scientific Part Three,Administration dealswith
and Activities,
researchand researchstandardsin the U.S.S.R. The healthactivities or services,suchas programs forthe
accountbeginswitha shorthistory ofRussianscience, handicapped andnutrition andmentalhealthprograms,
whichis followed bya briefdescription oftheimpactof appraisalactivities, and policiesforimproving com-
dialecticalmaterialismon mathematics, physics,and munityrelationships. Thereare extensivereferences
chemistry.Herewe are shownhowthephysicalscien- andan index.Appended area personalhistoryform and
tistshaveprotected theirsciencesfromthePartyLine a copy of the Policiesof the Worthington (Ohio)
bymeansofsimpleverbalistic evasions.Astronomy and Schooland Community HealthCouncil.
cosmology follow inthatorderandleadtoa chapter on The bookappearsto fulfill verywellthepurposefor
the originof lifewherethe "correct"viewsare,nat- whichit was intended.It is thorough, but clearand
urally,thoseofA. I. Oparin. concise,and demonstrates considerableenthusiasm for
Morespaceis devotedto thebiological sciencesthan the integration of schoolhealthexperience withthe
to thephysicalsciences,forit is in biologythatMarx needsofthepupilsand ofthecommunity-needs with
and Engelsstatedtheirviewsprecisely and in detail. whichthereaders mustdealin theirprofessional activi-
Here,of course,evasionis muchmoredifficult. For ties.
biologicaladvancesto be acceptabletheymustbe H. D. VERA
(1) compatible withthedoctrines ofMarxand Engels,
and (2) made by individuals who are personally ac-
ceptable.Thus cellularpathology is "in error"and is
inadmissiblebecauseitsfounder, RudolphVirchow, was FOUNDATIONS oF BIOLOGY. Foundations of theUnity
a "reactionary." On the otherhand,the theoriesof ofScience,Vols.I andII, International Encyclopedia of
Olga Leperchinskaia, whichhold thatlivingcellsare UnitedScience. Vol.I, No. 9.
developedout of non-cellular and lifelessprotein,are By Felix Mainx. University of ChicagoPress,
nowofficial. Chicago.$2.00.(paper). iv + 86 pp. 1955.
The riseofLysenkoto poweris nextdescribed and
thetechnique he usedto destroy genetics. Now,how-
ever,Lysenkois havinghisowntroubles whichseemto
havecomefrom hiseffortsto correct Darwin's"errors"
BIOLOGY: HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY
abouttheoriginofspecies.The workendswitha brief
surveyof theotherbiologicalsciencesand particular GREAT EXPERIMENTS IN BIOLOGY.
emphasison the conformity forcedupon the physi- Edited by Mordecai L. Gabrieland SeymourFogel.
ologists,who have to adherecloselyto the workof Prentice-Hall,EnglewoodCliffs,N. J. $3.95. xvi
Pavlov. + 317 pp.; ill. 1955.
Of especialvalue is a bibliography of nearly400 The scientistdiffersfromthenon-scientistprincipally
titles.The wholeworkfurnishes an excellentstarting- by the fact that problemsare his daily fare, that he
pointto anyonewho wishesto learnjust whathas seeks them ratherthan deliberatelyavoids them. The
happenedto Sovietscience. motivesforthisdifference in mental behaviorprobably
CONWAY ZIRKLE arisefromtheelation whichthescientistfeelsand needs
and which comes fromthe sense of discovery.This
feelingcannot be shared with the non-scientist unless
he too knows of the existenceof the problem,of the
SCHOOL HEALTH EDUCATION. for Teachers,
A Textbook compellingreasons why a solutionis needed, and the
Nurses,and otherProfessionalPersonnel.Revised meaningof an answerin termsof some largerbody of
Edition. information. Since science today is so much a part of
Harper& Brothers,
By DelbertOberteuffer. New our everyday existence,and since so much of the
York. $4.50. x + 454 pp. 1954. taxpayer'sdollar is being expendedforthe solutionof
Like the firstedition,this text is designedforuse by scientificproblems,it is importantthat the taxpayer
collegeand universitystudentspreparingforservicein should appreciate the role of the scientistin today's
teaching,nursing,and medicine.The book is writtenin society,even if he does not fullyunderstandit. The
three parts. Part One, The Foundations of School daily newspapersconveythisinformation in a sporadic
Health Education, presentsthe healthproblemswhich and fragmentary way, but all too frequentlythe over-
confrontthe school population and the community, dramatizationof the scientistand his discoverieshas
and which thereforemust be dealt with in health backfiredto the extentof fosteringa laical distrustof
education,and suggestshow this may be done effec- the scientistas a social being.A judicious presentation
tively. Part Two, The Curriculumand Teaching, dis- works can dispel this feelingto a certain
of scientific
cusses the planningofinstruction-variousapproaches, extent(the articlesin the ScientificAmericanare good
methods,organizationof courses,integrationof mate- examples), but probablythe most efficient methodis
rial,resources,and, finally,theevaluationofinstruction. forthe lay public to become acquainted withscientific

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