Books in Brief

BOOKS IN BRIEF You Are Extraorpinary. by Roger

J. Williams (Random House, $5.95). The psychological and_ biological scientists have an apology to make. Both disciplines in the Twenties and Thirties were maintaining that environment pretty much molded and shaped up the behavioral pat- terns of the adult organism. Curi- ously, this view still prevails among the public at large, even though current psychological and biologi- cal theorists have abandoned it. Al- though the evidence is now con- clusive that a dynamic relationship exists between the environment and the organism, with the prevailing view being that environment mere- ly maximizes the innate capabili- ties of a particular organism’s he- reditary, or structural, properties, not many scientists publicly make the point. You Are Extraordinary, a book best to be remembered for its frighteningly simple statement of the issue, cites a variety of biologi- cal observations to support the ar- gument that human beings are highly individual in their physical and mental makeup. The examples cited are usually dull (the shape of your stomach may well be differ- ent from your neighbor’s), but bio- chemist Williams makes the point. The book would make good read- ing for junior and senior high school students—a group that un- fortunately still expects more from their environment than from them- selves. M. GAZZANIGA

BOOKS IN BRIEF You Are Extraorpinary. by Roger

J. Williams (Random House, $5.95). The psychological and_ biological scientists have an apology to make. Both disciplines in the Twenties and Thirties were maintaining that environment pretty much molded and shaped up the behavioral pat- terns of the adult organism. Curi- ously, this view still prevails among the public at large, even though current psychological and biologi- cal theorists have abandoned it. Al- though the evidence is now con- clusive that a dynamic relationship exists between the environment and the organism, with the prevailing view being that environment mere- ly maximizes the innate capabili- ties of a particular organism’s he- reditary, or structural, properties, not many scientists publicly make the point. You Are Extraordinary, a book best to be remembered for its frighteningly simple statement of the issue, cites a variety of biologi- cal observations to support the ar- gument that human beings are highly individual in their physical and mental makeup. The examples cited are usually dull (the shape of your stomach may well be differ- ent from your neighbor’s), but bio- chemist Williams makes the point. The book would make good read- ing for junior and senior high school students—a group that un- fortunately still expects more from their environment than from them- selves. M. GAZZANIGA