Book Review

The word genius, used sparingly by scientists, is universally applied by scientists to describe Barbara McClintock. This is the story of a woman whose work for decades defined the frontiers of her field, and did so in spite of all the disadvantages and disincentives that women faced in science. Only in her late 70’s (she was born in 1902) did McClintock begin to get the honors that her work deserved. In the 1980’s she won, in quick succession, a MacArthur Laureate Award (she was the first to receive this so-called “genius” award), the Lasker Award, the Wolf prize, the Horowitz Prize, and, unshared, the Nobel Prize in 1983. As this elegant biography makes abundantly clear, Barbara McClintock was, in Duke Ellington’s memorable phrase, “beyond category”. Enjoy.

~ Lee Grodzins, Ph.D., Physicist, Professor Emeritus, MIT