Vital Harmonies: Molecular Biology and Our Shared Humanity

Erwin Fleissner

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Paper, 176 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-13113-1
$26.00 / £18.00

August, 2004
Cloth, 176 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-13112-4
$80.00 / £55.00

"Those who are already grounded in the basics of molecular biology will profit ...from this worthwhile, if challenging, volume...Recommended." — Choice

"Erwin Fleissner asks: what can molecular biology tell us about our place in the world? That he is able to accomplish this in a lucid manner while at the same time evoking a sense of wonder at the complexity and beauty of nature is both impressive and moving." — Robert N. Eisenman, Nature Cell Biology

"[A] one-of-a-kind insider's reminiscence of how human enquiry about the basic blocks all humans are made of changed the world." — Midwest Book Review

"Fleissner plunges a stake through the chest of vitalism, showing that living systems are subject to natural law. His profound humanism and his justification of ethical tenets through an evolutionary analysis is wonderful and insightful." — Max Gottesman, director, Institute of Cancer Research, Columbia University Medical Center

Related Subjects

• General Biology

About the Author

Erwin Fleissner is professor emeritus of biology and former dean of sciences and mathematics (1987-1998) at Hunter College, City University of New York. Before Hunter, he was a member of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research where he discovered the protein composition of retroviruses and researched the roles of cell-derived genes in cancers caused by such viruses in animals.

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