Theodor Boveri. Leben und Werk eines grossen Biologen, 1862-1915 by Fritz BaltzerReview by: Frederic L. HolmesIsis, Vol. 55, No. 1 (Mar., 1964), pp. 122-123Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/227781 .

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122 BOOK REVIEWS

ments on a single circumscribed set of scientific ideas within a specific span of time and among the thinkers of a particular and brilliant civilization.

If there is any reproach to the author, it is perhaps that he sometimes views the contributions of other civilizations too greatly in the light of the French experience. The implication, for in- stance, that the Royal Society of Lon- don in its early days reflected official science, as did the French Academie, with the result that research in England lacked individuality, would hardly seem justified.

But it would be to learn about France, not England, that a reader would turn to Roger's book, and bi- ologists, philosophers, and literary his- torians will surely find it a source of illumination on several centuries of thought concerning not only generation and nature, but also God and man.

JANE OPPENHEIMER Bryn Mawr College

FRITZ BALTZER. Theodor Boveri. Leben und Werk eines grossen Biologen, 1862- 1915. (Grosse Naturforscher, Band 25.) viii + 194 pp., illus., bibl. Stutt- gart: Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesell- schaft, 1962. DM 17.-.

From a convergence of knowledge about cell structure, the inheritance of external traits, and embryological de- velopment, several biologists at the be- ginning of this century concluded that chromosomes are the morphological structures associated with the unit traits of Mendelian genetics. One of those who did most to make such an identifi- cation possible was Theodor Boveri, the subject of this excellent biography by his former assistant, Fritz Baltzer.

With the insight drawn from close personal acquaintance, Baltzer not only portrays vividly Boveri's complex per- sonality, but shows the essential rela- tion between his artistic temperament and his scientific achievements. The affinity for art which Boveri expressed in painting and music was reflected in

his work, especially in the careful, ele- gant drawings of his microscopic obser- vations and in the clear imagery of his verbal descriptions. The intuitive in- sight with which he perceived simple generalizations behind seemingly dis- parate observations was, Baltzer feels, akin to that of an artist. Boveri's gen- eralizations were not abstract, but were visual images of the processes accom- panying cell phenomena. Fortunately, these characteristics were admirably suited for dealing with the biological problems which he studied.

Baltzer describes Boveri's experi- mental and theoretical contributions clearly and simply. Diverse as these were, they all concerned the processes by which parental reproductive sub- stance creates a new individual with de- termined characteristics. His most im- portant work was on the role of chromo- somes. He provided strong morpho- logical evidence that individual chromo- somes maintain their identity during cell divisions, a property which was essential if they were to be regarded as the bearers of hereditary traits. He showed also that in fertilization the central event for the inheritance of traits is the pairing of a set of maternal chromosomes in the egg with an equiva- lent set from, the sperm. By ingenious experiments with sea urchins he settled the important issue of whether each chromosome carries all of the genetic traits of an individual, or the indi- vidual chromosomes control qualitative- ly different characteristics. Taking ad- vantage of the fact that sometimes a newly fertilized egg divides immediately into three or four daughter cells in- stead of the normal two, he recognized that in such cases the chromosomes are distributed randomly into the resultant cells. If the chromosomes differ quali- tatively, he predicted, only those eggs will develop normally in which the daughter cells happen to receive a com- plete complement of chromosomes. He calculated the chances for such occur- rences and found them to agree with the percentages of normal embryos formed.

Baltzer treats briefly but incisively the contemporary background of each

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BOOK REVIEWS 123

of the problems which engaged Boveri, as well as some of the later develop- ments in genetics which drew on his results and ideas. Short summaries of the knowledge of cellular and genetic phenomena relevant to his work make the book easily understandable to gen- eral readers. Numerous drawings, often taken from Boveri's own papers, are also very helpful.

Contributions of van Beneden, Weis- mann, the Hertwigs, Roux, Driesch, Sutton, and others are all discussed from the perspective of Boveri's work. The emphasis on Boveri leaves an im- pression that he was the dominating figure in the epoch-making develop- ments of this period in cytology and genetics. Crucial as his investigations were, it is somewhat exaggerated to call the previously mentioned experiments the first foundation and the keystone of the chromosome theory of heredity.

Such overemphasis may be difficult to avoid in a compactly written biography of one key investigator in a field which involved numerous important contribu- tors: one could hope for the compensa- tion of seeing in the historical sequence of Boveri's own activities what Baltzer calls " the inner law which the investi- gator followed." Unfortunately the or- ganization of the book, which describes the life, personality, and principal in- vestigations of Boveri in separate sec- tions, prevents such a pattern from fully emerging. Nevertheless Baltzer's sympathetic understanding of Boveri and his professional knowledge of the biological problems which Boveri in- vestigated make this an extraordinarily valuable, as well as a remarkably lucid biography. It should be translated for the benefit of English-speaking students.

FREDERIC L. HOLMES

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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