FOREWORD /A ix 



relaxation and play. It is also a place where careers are made, and where 

 new associations, professional and personal, are formed. Many collabora- 

 tions have resulted from joint research work begun, or largely carried out, 

 at the MBL. The uniqueness of the MBL lies in its combination of so many 

 vital qualities. 



I recently discussed the subject of the MBL's uniqueness with my 

 colleague at Washington University, Viktor Hamburger, student of Nobel 

 laureate Hans Spemann in the 1920s and himself an eminent embryologist, 

 who spent a number of years as instructor, and later director, of the 

 embryology course at the MBL (1936-46). I asked Professor Hamburger 

 what he thought were the unique features of the institution. He replied that, 

 for him, the uniqueness lies in the pastoral setting that allows people to have 

 ongoing conversations wdth colleagues undistracted by the constant inter- 

 ruptions of daily life in the university. In addition, Hamburger noted, the 

 MBL provides scientists the opportunity to observe each other's experi- 

 ments first-hand, and to discuss diflferent interpretations of data on the 

 spot. The MBL provides an opportunity for doing science and for thinking 

 in a relaxing atmosphere that fosters creativity. To Hamburger, this is the 

 secret of the MBL's uniqueness — that it spawns creativity. 



My own experience with the MBL dates back some twenty years when, 

 as a graduate student in history of science, I discovered one of the Labo- 

 ratory's most unique features: its magnificent library. Even though I was a 

 student at Harvard, which has one of the most complete libraries in the 

 world, I still found the MBL Library to be a special treat. Not only were the 

 library's journal holdings more complete in many cases than Harvard's, but 

 they were much easier to use. All numbers of every journal are housed 

 under one roof and are arranged alphabetically. The library is open 

 twenty- four hours a day, seven days a week, and no one checks you in and 

 out or stamps the books you borrow; the library runs on the honor system 

 and works surprisingly well. Few books are lost, stolen, or misplaced. 

 Another very special feature of the MBL Library is its reprint collection: 

 300,000 individual reprints, arranged by author and covering all aspects of 

 biology between roughly 1880 and 1966. For a historian, this is a goldmine 

 of information. 



After spending my first summer using the library full-time, I discov- 

 ered—in a way close to my own heart — one of the MBL Library's most 

 treasured features. Here was a complete set of the Journal of the Royal 

 Microscopical Society, or the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 

 dating back to volume 1, in 1665, sitting on the shelves for browsing. (Some 

 of the older, more valuable and fragile items have now been removed to the 

 newly-renovated Rare Books Room and Archives.) These same journals had 

 been perused in the past by Lillie, Morgan, Conklin, Harrison and other 

 greats in early twentieth-century biology. 



