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"Jonas Salk's passion to create a palace of scientific splendor was as strong as his passion to cure polio. In Genesis of the Salk Institute, Suzanne Bourgeois reveals the inside scoop on how Salk achieved the impossible—by enticing famous scientists (Crick, Monod, Dulbecco) and orchestrating a menage a trois involving a renowned architect (Louis Kahn), the city of San Diego (a gift of ocean-view land in La Jolla), and the March of Dimes (lots of vanishing money)."—Joseph L. Goldstein, MD, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1985
"The story of the founding of the Salk Institute is a fascinating tale, not without a good measure of intrigue. Indeed, it has all the qualities of a modern scientific melodrama: chance and the weight of circumstance, powerful personalities and the clashing of egos, the tension between personal priorities and national imperatives, Nobel laureates galore—it’s all here. Suzanne Bourgeois, a fellow of the institute from the time of its founding, has produced a splendid, meticulously researched book that should be read by anyone interested in biomedical research or the history of science and medicine."—Russell Doolittle, University of California San Diego
List 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
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.
Summary
Offers an account of the origins and early years of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. This title 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.
Additional text
"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."
