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Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: The Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America (review)

detractors accused him of arrogance. Eventually, the brouhaha became the excuse to oust him from the Rockefeller presidency, where he was making waves by trying to establish greater prominence for younger researchers in a university traditionally ruled by seniority. In short, David Baltimore is both a significant scientist and statesman. But he is not a saint. Shane Crotty’s biography of Baltimore does not exactly confer sainthood, but it comes close. Crotty, a Howard Hughes Doctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, has thoroughly researched Baltimore’s life through the writings of others as well as through interviews with numerous colleagues. It is an admirable job. In fact, it may be fair to say that there is nothing wrong with Crotty’s book. The facts are accurate and the picture he paints is complete— especially given the fact that the majority of his sources are on Baltimore’s side. But he goes a bit far in attributing to Baltimore both a life story and personal characteristics that could equally well describe any number of stellar biomedical researchers who are that complex mix of intellectual brilliance, self-confidence writ large, a genuine desire to help humanity, and a touch of bravado. In the opening chapter on Baltimore’s early life in Great Neck, Long Island, Crotty paints a picture of a young man born to supportive Jewish parents who pushed him to excel; while admirable, this is hardly exceptional. Likewise, Crotty’s descriptions of Baltimore’s life as a college student fail to identify the “je ne sais quoi” that distinguishes him from dozens of his peers. Perhaps the point is simply that he had a good family and excellent academic opportunities, and that it is not necessary to search this realm of his life for the qualities that made him excel so notably as adult. Much the same could be said or inferred about Crotty’s descriptions of Baltimore’s life in science. Because it is all gleaned from interviews held long after the fact, and because Crotty is a talented but yet-inexperienced historian or biographer, his book is simultaneously factual, occasionally perceptive, but generally flat. Nonetheless, his research and writing show real promise. He has produced a biography that is solid; he can be proud of it. Readers should wait with interest for his next volume.