importantly, given the book’s theme, noth-ing is said of Lyell’s interpretation of theaccumulation of Mount Etna’s lava flows,which overlie geologically quite recent rocks,as evidence for the Earth’s great age. But Ishould be surprised if the author knew aboutsuch matters, his knowledge of the history ofgeology literature evidently being limited.

All in all, the book reveals the author as anamateur historian of science, leaning on thework of others and not doing justice to hisimportant theme. Yet the book will doubt-less sell well with the publishers’ backing. In contrast, another semi-popular, but authoritative, book by the Hutton scholar Donald McIntyre (with Alan McKirdy), JamesHutton: The Founder of Modern Geology (TheStationery Office, 1997), received insuffi-cient funding to accommodate referencesand had only a very brief bibliography and amodest print run. Why should this be so? ■

David R. Oldroyd is at the School of History andPhilosophy of Science, University of New SouthWales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.

Eyes on the prizeHow to Win the Nobel Prize: AnUnexpected Life in Scienceby J. Michael BishopHarvard University Press: 2003. 320 pp.$27.95, £18.50, €27.95

István Hargittai

If offered reincarnation, the Nobel laureate J. Michael Bishop would choose to comeback as a musician (with exceptional talent,to be sure), because he thinks that one life-time as a scientist is enough. The son of alutheran minister, he grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and became enchanted withresearch during his last years at HarvardMedical School. He has been at the Univer-sity of California, San Francisco since 1968,and worked for 15 years with his formerpostdoctoral associate, and ultimately fellowNobel laureate, Harold Varmus.

Their work had its roots in the discoveryof a cancer-causing virus in chickens by Peyton Rous in 1911, who was awarded theNobel Prize fully 55 years later. Five indi-viduals then went on to win Nobel Prizes for related work. David Baltimore, RenatoDulbecco and Howard Temin won in 1975“for their discoveries concerning the inter-action between tumour viruses and thegenetic material of the cell”, and Varmus and Bishop became Nobel laureates in 1989“for their discovery of the cellular origin ofretroviral oncogenes”. Baltimore and Teminfound the viral enzyme reverse transcriptase,which allows RNA to be copied into DNA, a reversal of the normal flow of genetic information. This discovery could have beenBishop’s had he been more daring. However,

he learned his lesson and was fortunateenough to get another chance.

The discovery of oncogenes (cancergenes) raised the question of whether suchgenes might be present in the genetic com-position of normal as well as cancerous cells. Locating them carried the promise of understanding human cancer at the geneticlevel. At first it was thought that oncogeneswere viral genes, but Bishop and Varmus discovered that they were cellular genes thathad been kidnapped by the virus. It tooktheir team four years to identify them.

Bishop quotes a beautiful description of amoment of discovery by one of their post-docs, Dominique Stehelin: “The intensity of the emotion I experienced and the intellec-tual clarity induced by the situation at thatmoment were very special.” Furthermore, “Isuspect that few have the privilege of enjoyingsuch a moment when one is intensely andprofoundly aware that a major step forwardin Science has been made, and that one hascontributed to it.” Alas, the quote was from an open letter to the Nobel Committee by Stehelin, who was not among the Nobelawardees. For every Nobel laureate there areothers who might have also been included butwere not, and every story about how to winthe Nobel Prize may have its counterparts.

Bishop does not give a recipe for winningthe prize, as any attempt to emulate a parti-cular research career would be doomed tofail. However, throughout the book, he makes

important points that budding scientistsmay find useful. For example, it is more use-ful to learn from one’s peers than from one’steachers. Start a research career in a placewhere you feel genuinely needed, rather thatchoosing somewhere for its prestige. Being a pioneer in research is fun, although it may bring more fame to be part of a teamcompleting a discovery. Give a name to yourdiscovery as soon as it is made. And finally,Bishop points out, good scientists shouldalso market their ideas well.

Nobel laureates often seem to be standard-bearers for good causes, usually by signingpetitions or making statements about issueswith which they may not even be too familiar.Bishop’s involvement in public causes has beendifferent. He actively organized the participa-tion of scientists in a non-partisan movementto increase legislative attention for science.Their high-level lobbying helped to achieverecord support for research from taxpayer’smoney in the United States.

Bishop compiled his experience and ideasin this book for the general public. He alsoprovides a crash course on the microbialworld that is a gem of instruction withoutbeing condescending. And his copious use of art, including poetry, is a statement aboutthe unity of the two cultures. ■

István Hargittai is at the Budapest University ofTechnology and Economics, Szt. Gellert ter 4, H-1521Budapest, Hungary. He is the author of The Road toStockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists.

books and arts

NATURE | VOL 423 | 26 JUNE 2003 | www.nature.com/nature 921

Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomicaldrawings, such as those of theshoulder shown here, may havebeen undertaken primarily out of an artistic desire to perfect his representation of the humanbody. They were influenced bythe prevailing dogma of medicalanatomy, as established by theGreek anatomist Galen some1,400 years earlier. Leonardo’sfocus on drawing from life — inparticular from his first-handobservation of human dissection— clearly informed his laterworks. The accuracy of hisrepresentations of humananatomy often surpassed that ofcontemporary medical experts. A massive book containing all ofLeonardo’s sketches, togetherwith an analysis of the artist’swork — Leonardo da Vinci1452–1519: The CompletePaintings and Drawings (Taschen)by Frank Zöllner — has recentlybeen published. Mary Purton

Illustration

A fine body of work

© 2003 Nature Publishing Group