Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior Paperback – April 4, 2000

Weiner who has won the Pulitzer for The Beak of the Finch enraptures us again with a circuitous but straightforward (how he manages that can be known only to the ghost of Proust) true tale of the life and the curiosity of Seymour Benzer the only lord of the Flies. Weiner manages to take on the life of this driven, self-motivated enthusiastic genius from Brooklyn and follow the perambulations of his decades-long study of the fruit fly. It turns out that the studies by this single man (et cohorts) have raised not only humanity's knowledge about how every part of the body finds its origin, form and function in the gene, how he has described and discovered methods to reveal how the gene acts and reacts if transplanted from one locus to another, how those who study this and reveal this information to others must, to live a moral life, must be wary of his own science and must follow Hypocrates' dictum "to do no harm." Metaphysical questions are raised along with the more mundane, making this book important, layered on all levels with differing meaning, and thought-provoking both to the meanest and to the most generous of minds. I hope the reader who reads this review will read every word in every book this kind, attentive brilliant author writes. Wiener has won all sorts of literary prizes, Benzer his subject the Nobel. What a sandwich! G Kossow in Florida PS I gave a copy of this to my surgeon on the way to getting a new battery for pacemaker right in operating room! Now THAT's enthusiasm for a book!!!!

Weiner is capable of describing complex data and thorny hypotheses with great clarity. His tale of Seymour Benzer was filled with the small anecdotes that we all shared about this great scientist, but also with insight into the brilliance of the man and his colleagues. A compelling book. I want to read it yet again to better understand the depth of Benzer's work. The historical review of genetics and the major players, including Mendel, Morgan, Sturtevant, and others that opened the field to the molecular revolution, gave me insights beyond my own lifetime of science. His differences of opinion with other great scientists such as Delbruck, Crick relfected the warmth and humanity of an extraordinary generation of physicists turned biologists. A delightful book to read. My only reservation is the closing chapter on human brains. He misunderstands the nature of Blindsight, and his description of Carol Miller's notions of localization of "apathy" is not up to the standard of the rest of the book.

I picked this book up more or less randomly and I am certainly not a specialist, beyond a few college courses. Weiner does a wonderful job of explaining how genes work and the decades-long quest to find the true physical connection between Mendelian genetics and the molecular level. His depictions of the brilliant but sometimes obsessional "Drosophilists" is highly memorable. These scientists spring to life as real people.Would have been five stars, but I found that Weiner is often repetitive in explaining various discoveries and scientific problems. Still, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know how science really works.

Great!

When I went to order a copy of "The Beak of the Finch" for a friend I discovered that Jonathan Weiner had also written this book. How could I have missed it all of these years? I have noticed a couple sentences that the author would not have included today (1 1/2 decades after he wrote it), but it this is another fascinating scientific history and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

This book gives the most brilliant history from discovery of physics to chromosomes to viruses and recombinant technology. Should be on every science student's shelf....to READ!

This was such fun. My science background is a bit heavy on physics, not so much on biology. This was perfect for the educated generalist, good stories, detailed examples, clear explanations, and just fun. Enjoy!

This is a well written exploration of the role the fruit fly has played in the development of our understanding of the effect of genes on behavior. Weiner humanizes the search by interspersing personal stories of the researchers of the time with the discoveries they make.Who would have thought that we share a sequence of amino acids with a fruit fly--a sequence that is involved in setting circadian rhythms? Who would have thought that by changing just one nucleotide (in the right place) you can convert a fruit fly from one species to another? Who would have thought that one way to figure out what DNA sequences do in people is to see if they match sequences in fruit flies, or mice?Written in clear, lively prose, this book is a great introduction to genetic research.

Gives you a vivid picture of the history of development of Drosophila as the golden bug of genetics. Must read for every Drosophila biologist!

It felt like the author looked down upon the profession. Describing at length the dreary aspects of being a biologist - like the windowless room. Would've been much better, more inspiring, if it were written by someone who was passionate about biology - then the attention would've been shifted onto things like the amazing biology-related findings (i.e. things that real biologists see). I decided to go find something to read by Seymore Benzer himself and, as expected, it was a much more fun read - you could feel more of his passion coming through.

Loved the book