From a brief survey of the unique, matriarchal society of mandrills to a hard-hitting critique of Africa's AIDS policy, this comprehensive anthology, the second in this series, boasts 23 articles culled from some of the nation's most preeminent periodicals the New Yorker, National Geographic, Harper's, Scientific American and the New York Times. These essays are in their finest form when they challenge the popular mindset and expose the politics that undermine scientific achievement. Debbie Bookchin and Jim Schumacher, for example, aptly summarize the conflict that has been raging since pathologist Michele Carbone suggested that an ordinarily harmless simian virus, introduced into the human gene pool through contaminated polio vaccines, may be the cause of some cancers. Richard Preston's lengthy overview of the race to decode the human genome, on the other hand, pointedly highlights the politics and petty rivalries (most notably between Nobel Prize-recipient James Watson and Celera's senior scientist, Craig Venter) that both impeded and accelerated the decoding process. Several of the remaining entries will alternately amuse and intrigue the reader. Joel Achenbach speculates about extraterrestrial life by examining the conditions that limit the emergence of life; Andrew Sullivan's intimate account surveys the role of testosterone in society; and Stephen Jay Gould reveals the medieval origin and treatment of syphilis (bleeding and purging by spittle). Despite the occasional weak entry such as Freeman J. Dyson's unsubstantiated, rosy predictions about the future of "green technology" (or biotechnology) this anthology of lucid, eloquent essays will satisfy popular science enthusiasts. (Oct.1) |1566633885 CATTLE: An Informal Social History Laurie Winn Carlson. Ivan R. Dee, $27.50 (352p) ISBN 1-56663-388-5 ~ Carlson (A Fever in Salem; Boss of the Plai that Won the West) offers a well-researched explorat ion iotic relationship between humans and cattle. Beginni ng wtoric cave drawings, she traces the history of cattle thrication, agriculture and industrialization, which, sh e ared to current concerns about food safety. In Europe, domettle herds led to the development of clans with socia l hind complex rule systems. She plumbs the link between womae: because women cared for the herd, Carlson argues t hat ies were "largely female-dominated, or at least gende r ne examines the halcyon days of cattle ranching in the Amerexploring early conflicts between ranchers, the feder al gnd moneyed interests. Carlson pays particular attenti on tct American industrialization and science had on cattl e ans the ramifications of such developments as canning an d r rail cars to carry meat across the country to consum ers.es the benefits cows have brought, most notably perha ps tfor smallpox, as well as concerns about mad cow disea se ainfections. Carlson reveals such historical footnotes as tter played in the Protestant reformation and makes s ometcted connections, such as her ruminations on the link bettive breeding and the eugenics program in Nazi Germany. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.