DIABETES
Here is Darwin's germinal idea applied to subjects as diverse as cuckoo's eggs, memory, courtship in birds, colour blindness in man, and the differences between the way men and gorillas wear out their teeth.
Abstract
The question is sometimes asked whether first-year medical students need be exposed to courses in botany and zoology, and the question is sometimes answered by the assertion that these subjects are useful prerequisites for a medical degree. They may be, but there are much more important reasons than that for including them in the medical curriculum, and one of the reasons is evident from an inspection of this book. The idea of evolution is not a recondite concept like the divine right of kings, which no one but specialists need bother to understand. Nor is it a landmark of history like the Reform Bill, which was important a century ago but is now only of antiquarian interest. It is still the most fascinating problem of biology, and the most fruitful idea which has ever confronted biologists; and a man who does not understand the rudiments of it has no right to call himself civilized. In five years we shall celebrate the centenary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. In essentials his theory still stands, though it has not stood still. In this book nineteen distinguished biologists describe the present state of evolution in their special fields. Among the essays are the following: " Relation between the evolution of central nervous functions and the body size of animals" (Bernard Rensch), "Colour vision and its evolution in the vertebrates " (E. N. Willmer), " Memory, heredity and information " (J. Z. Young), "Correlation of change in the evolution of higher primates" (S. Zuckerman). The essays are written for biologists and it is perhaps too much to hope that many medical men recollect enough first-year biology to read the work without effort. But the effort is worth while. Here is Darwin's germinal idea applied to subjects as diverse as cuckoo's eggs, memory, courtship in birds, colour blindness in man, and the differences between the way men and gorillas wear out their teeth. The essays are all authoritative, though they inevitably differ in lucidity. They are an exciting summary of contemporary knowledge, and a gracious compliment to the sixty-fifth birthday of Julian Huxley, whose grandfather was " Darwin's bulldog" and who himself has made massive contributions to the study of evolution. E. AsHBY.