“Mirror Images”
By Georg Maier
Extracted from a chapter of his forthcoming book, An Optics of Visual Experience, our feature article is perhaps most noteworthy for its calm spirit of exact observation. Maier’s work reminds us that, however “commonplace” the subject matter, a well-trained receptivity can bring new insights and render the matter less common than our inattention may have led us to imagine. Meier's work is an invitation to discovery through disciplined perceiving.
Notes and Reviews
“Biological Engineering for Fun and Profit”
By Stephen L. Talbott
The very nature of the living organism is being made into a subject for both trivial gaming and commercialized re-engineering. As the examples in this article show, these ambitions and efforts reveal how important it is to move in a different direction — to anchor human thought and action in concrete perception and experience.
“A Modest Champion of the Whole Organism: Paul Weiss, Scientist of Distinction”
By Stephen L. Talbott
A short contemplation seeking to clarify the meaning of the widely used phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” followed by an article about the brilliant and currently overlooked twentieth-century cell biologist, Paul Weiss. Weiss combined clear, precise observation of the organism with equally clear thinking. His prominent achievements can serve as a beacon for those trying honestly to follow the lead of the many surprising biological findings of the still young twenty-first century.
