is all about, and not bothering to familiarize themselves in specific detail with the vast accumulation of behavioral data upon which the conclusions ofpsychoanalysis are based. Though specialists in scientific method, they refuse to look through Galileo's telescope [p. 349]. Hospers examines with skill and calmness many of die totally illogical arguments used in this conference, permitting one to end the volume with a faintly restored faith that one day there will be "a free, critical interchange ofviews on die scientific status of psychoanalysis" between philosophers ofscience and psychoanalysts. Ifthere is any lesson to be drawn from this kind ofexhibition, it is that diere is no substitute for firsthand knowledge ofthe method and data ofa discipline as a prerequisite for any critical discussion ofits merit and validity. This may seem like an utterly banal dictum, yet the facts are that it is too often casually disregarded when it comes to the sciences ofhuman behavior. Any taxicab driver will freely volunteer opinions about reasons forjuvenile delinquency, sexual perversions, drug addiction, or dreams—but rarely about astral physics, genetics, or C14 dating. There is a good reason for this; all such matters touch one personally to varying degrees. But the philosopher (and, even more importandy, the physician) must be cautious not to confuse this personal interest and ¦ involvement with the scientific knowledge and detachment necessary for critical judgment . The latter come about only through long experience and diligent study. George L. Engel University ofRochester The Physicist's Conception ofNature. ByWerner Heisenberg.Translated from the German by ArnoldJ. Pomerans. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1958. Pp. 192. $3.75. This book, written by a famous German scientist, the founder ofquantum mechanics, die discoverer of die uncertainty relations, and die Nobel prize winner in physics for 1933, does not do much credit to die author. The first 67 pages comprise three chapters which apparendy represent an attempt to amalgamate the three speechesdelivered or three articles written on three different occasions at diree different times. It is difficult to date die first two chapters, but die diird one must have been written in 1948, since in it the author refers to a conversation which he had had "some diirty years ago" during die Communist revolt in Munich (1918). The first chapter of the book presents die idea of the three stages of die evolution ofhuman diought about the surrounding world. According to die author, during olden times (ofKepler, etc.) scientists saw die world as die work ofGod. During the nineteendi century die world was existing all for itself, independent ofman. Since the discovery of the uncertainty relations, die man looking at the surrounding world sees his own image in it. The second chapter represents a discussion ofuncertainty relations and contains several interesting ideas (for example, about past and future difference in die case ofvery short time intervals) which may be ofgreat interest to a person trained in die modern quantum theory but will pass unnoticed by a general reader. 158 Book Reviews Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Autumn 1939 The third chapter discusses die relative advantages ofclassical (i.e., Greek grammar, etc.) and scientific education and presents arguments in favor ofdie former: "Thus, we may say in favour ofclassical education diat it is always a good diing to know the roots, even ifthey may not always be of practical use" (p. 52). However, by die end of the chapter (p. 67) die audior comes to die conclusion: "It does not matter whedier we prefer a classical or a scientific education. What alone matters is our unshakable faidi in the West." The remaining 115 pages ofthe text contain a masterful selection ofquotations from Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Oswald, De Broglie, and others which are supposed to illustrate die ideas ofdie author expressed in die first 67 pages. G. GAMOW University ofColorado The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809-1882. Edited, with Appendix and notes, by his granddaughter Nora Barlow. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1959. Pp. 253. $4.50. Darwin's autobiography was written mainly in 1876, six years before his death, with additional material inserted during his last yean. When first published in 1887, as part ofthe Life and Letters ofCharles Darwin, edited by his son Francis, it...