Genesis of the Salk Institute: The Epic of Its Founders

by Suzanne Bourgeois

Overview

This work is a personal account of the origins and early years of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Bourgeois crafts an engaging study that draws on her involvement with the Institute and on related archives, interviews, and informal conversations.

The volume discusses the people who founded the Institute and built a home for renowned research—leading scientists of the time as well as non-scientists of stature in finance, politics, philanthropy, publishing, and the humanities. The events that brought people together, the historic backdrop in which they worked, their personalities, their courage and their visions, their clash of egos and their personal vanities are woven together in a rich, engaging narrative about the founding of a world-premier research institution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520276079
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	08/24/2013
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Suzanne Bourgeois is Professor Emerita and Founding Director of the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute. She has published widely on gene regulation in numerous scientific journals.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Roger Guillemin
Preface and Acknowledgments
The Characters
Chronology

Prologue: The Greatest Generation

1. Before and after Ann Arbor
2. Doctor Polio Meets Doctor Atomic
3. Enter Leo Szilard
4. Atoms in Biology
5. What Was It about La Jolla?
6. The Pasteur Connection
7. The Spirit of Paris
8. Our Dear Kahn Building
9. Pioneering
10. The McCloy Boys
11. Biology in Human Affairs 
12. A Napoleon from Byzantium

Epilogue: Fifty Years Later

Notes
Abbreviations
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"A very well documented account... This important book should draw the attention of scholars to the valuable archival resources established by the Facilities Services team at the Salk Institute."

Isis Journal, University of Chicago Press - Suzanne Bourgeois

"Rich, immaculately researched."

Bulletin of the History of Medicine - Thomas Leslie

"[Bourgeois's] love and loyalty are well-placed, and I recommend this book enthusiastically."

FASEB Journal - Russell F. Doolittle

"Bourgeois deftly describes the relevant science in an accessible way. . . . Genesis of the Salk Institute delves deeply into the human motivations and foibles of the great men and women who shaped the institute and how the groundwork was laid for an organization that continues to shape science today."

Quarterly Review of Biology - Ilena George