HELLIO & VAN INGEN/NHPA books andarts 18 in theirhorizon. thephysiology prize,from of subject MRI,the already noted theabsence of Ihave isbarely mentioned. Tony Leggett, to yet asecond physics Nobel, source of now the helium-3, of history the intricate But Vitaly Ginzburgand Alexei Abrikosov. thephysics to prizes for thebackground of itisanexcellent source On theonehand, thebook. strengths andtheweaknesses of valuewhenithappens. enormous butadds where hittingthejackpot isararity tensions between research andtechnology, of inthehistory means auniquestory superconductivity —by no applications of andother theMRIindustry the valueof isnever balanced observation against critical But this tions thatcharacterized thisperiod. applica- thehopesforpractical overselling of authors make sometelling pointsaboutthe inthesefinalchapters the Still, is apity. which so hard to dispelisnotexplored here, chaos andcontroversy inthisfieldis sion of reasons why themisleadingpopularimpres- The hasnotbeenpointlessandfutile. theory andthat superconductivity isnotamystery, high-temperature thatthe source of namely, wasmeantto convey,sage thatthearticle misreading ormisunderstandingthemes- context, Nobel are quoted symposium outof my words fora ina2001article this field, motivated agreat discovery. Columbus conceptChristopher thatawrong Thisisfarfrom thefirsttimesince be wrong. that to thought isnonethelessgenerally theory by theway), Benoy Chakraverty, of concept (notanoriginal bipolaron theory cuprates wasunquestionablymotivated by high-temperature superconductivity inthe although Alex Müller’s great discovery of failure to note that let passtheauthors’ time seemedmore important? And Icannot so much relative to many thatatthe things butdoesthiswork standout to itscredit, theBCSideas detailedapplicationsof ber of able collective num- ethosandasignificant itsremark- inFrance,with de Gennes’group There isemphasisonPierre-Gilles coverage. here begin the to warp weakness intheory, andtheir world, theanglophone with arity relative unfamili- suggest thattheauthors’ might missesmany points.I vital indeed,and whose explanation isquoted). adebthere to (with theory Victor Weisskopf, theBCS thenature of of as isthedescription oeo hs eeofby alittle or,occasion- thesewere off some of even if socio-scientific history, trends of refreshing to find judgementsasto thebroad But Ifoundit or injustwho did what. you’re interested inwhatactuallyhappened emptor But layman aswell asscientist. tion of theatten- andthebookisworth elsewhere, Cold Wars h nrgigpeeo scientifichistory piece of The intriguing This year’s Nobels outboththe bring in theory thestate of In thediscussion of thereafterThe story becomes sketchy : the real inside story isnothere thereal if insidestory : has notbeenaswell presented caveat mings and his1942book Biology Experimental Journal of a1924publicationinthe cycles with population study of forthemodern form Charles Elton whobuiltthescientificplat- But itwastheOxford zoologist in some years. forinstance, lemmings, populations of to explain theories own theburgeoning Scandinavia have northern their Sami of hunters peoplesuch asthe andotherrural And long agoasthefifteenth century. for wrote aboutthephenomenonas Uppsala, example, Thearchbishop of lynxes. hares and andpopulationsof lemmings one year to thenext intheabundance of centuries by theprofound from variations People have beenfascinated andpuzzledfor Nils Chr. Stenseth £19.95(pbk) £52(hbk);$29.95, $75, 456pp. UniversityPrinceton Press: 2003. by Peter Turchin Theoretical/Empirical Synthesis Complex PopulationDynamics:A of populations The riseandfall USA. New Jersey 08544-0708, Princeton, University, Princeton Physics, of Anderson isintheDepartment Philip W. attention to thematall. to bare facts—whenitpays confines itself science Far of too often thehistory lot. a ally, book thataimsto synthesize thisrather Soa been characterized by heated debates. lation cycles isvastandhasto someextent Thescientificliterature onpopu- the Alps. such asthelarch budmoth foundin regions, have forspeciesinother beenobserved butsimilarphenomena thenorth, of brates yTrhnadclege,butspecialists by Turchin andcolleagues, thework provides anexcellent synthesisof part Thetheory sixcasestudies. of a series dataandfinally theory, split into three parts: is by Russian-born ecologist Peter Turchin, outsiders isto bewelcomed. chaotic fieldandmake itmore accessible to made to explainthelemming’s act. disappearing Now you seeit…Many have suggestions been uho thiswork hasfocusedonverte- Much of Complex Population Dynamics have beenkey references ever since. ©

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Nature oe,Mice andLem- Voles, Publishing . That paper That . Group written , British NATURE I btenpatadhrioe predator and (between plantand herbivore, interactions between different trophic levels forinstance inemphasizingfeedback tives, educational purpose. seem too biasedornarrow to ageneral serve both asthey themastextbooks, either of —Iwouldto notrecommend with disagree much tothe fieldwith think about—and provide activeboth bookswill scientistsin Although and well-planned experiments. needing to betested by specificallydesigned much dataandseveral plausiblehypotheses with population cycles isastimulating field, are to findthesolutionto thecycle puzzle. we balance thatIamconvinced isneededif regarding approaches methodological —a thisprovides agoodbalance Berryman, Together by thepostscript with analysis. approachexperimental over statisticaldata favour who the Moss andNigel Yoccoz, Robert Krebs, Charley Xaviergists Lambin, A concluding chapter by ecolo- iswritten population cycles whereas othersdonot. species andpopulationsexhibit extensive in attempting to understandwhy some display great enthusiasm andquality, form bothin somewhatvariable although ters, Thesechap- apopulationcycle. example of considering an by specialistsinthefield,each Cyclestion an openingchapter andapostscript, whocontributed Edited by Alan Berryman, which waspublishedlastyear. versity Press), the patterns to be explained, and end with andendwith the patterns to beexplained, aimedatdescribing statistical dataanalysis, with and similarphenomenashouldstart populationcycles investigationslogical of Turchin’s with agree conclusion thateco- Ifully work. solelyonexperimental relying than rather modelling andexperiments, theoretical statisticalanalysis, on integrating itsemphasis with inparticular the literature, that thisbookcontributes profoundly to think being thechapter ongrouse.However,I agoodexception other systems described, the shallow butisrather forsomeof himself, for thesystems thatTurchin hasworked on fully thantheformer. mechanistic modelling—thelatter more and (timeseries-based) phenomenological which covers both thebook, of part second Ipreferred the thefield. a synthesisof providing like ambitionsof inabookwith not cover theliterature might asfullythey on populationcycles may findthatitdoes elements as research to looklike. ought programme whata because heprovides examples of but Turchin’sbody with agrees conclusions, notnecessarilybecauseevery- on thefield, respect thebookmay have ahuge impact In this alternative mechanistic explanations. workexperimental to between discriminate | VOL 426 They bothexpressThey similarperspec- rather thesebooksshow thatthestudy of Both of The sectiononcaseexamples isgood Turchin’s thesame bookcovers many of | 6 NOVEMBER 2003 comprises seven chapters written Population Cycles | www.nature.com/nature (Oxford Uni- Popula- books and arts

Exhibition Old Red Sandstone (1841), Footprints of the Creator (1849) and Testimony of the Rocks Force of nature (1857),were successful in Victorian times. The photograph shown here, called Even so,Miller never adhered to the pre- Forces #7, is one of a series staged darwinian evolutionary views of his time. S. BRAAS and shot by New York-based artist To both Miller and his mentor,the palaeon- Sonja Braas. Braas is interested in tologist Louis Agassiz, evolution, if it the way that we perceive our natural occurred at all,was merely a form of degen- environment, particularly those eration. In The Cruise of the Betsey, Miller uninhabitable landscapes where danger rarely alludes to this; most of his scientific is a counterpart to beauty. For the considerations are about geology, its bear- Forces series she built models ings on our knowledge of the vastness of depicting the raw violence of nature. time, and its moral or physical benefits. Once Braas had photographed the Thanks to his popular style, this book has models, she destroyed them. long increased people’s interest in geology, Forces #7 is a compelling, hence the importance of this new edition. ambiguous image, with a reality that Readers not from Scotland might have becomes less clear the more closely been lost in Miller’s allusions to church and one looks. It reflects the fading of the land politics without the book’s excellent romantic notion that parts of nature will introduction. This explains that the Free always remain pristine and inaccessible Church of Scotland was created by the to humans. ‘disruption’, in which Miller played a role Some of the Forces series can be as the editor of the evangelical newspaper seen at the Tanit Gallery in Munich, The Witness. The ‘clearances’ were a little- Germany, from 6 November to known (outside Scotland) form of ‘soft’ 13 December 2003. Alison Abbott ethnic cleansing,which Miller condemned. The diversity of subjects dealt with in prey, and parasite and host). But do such Rambles of a Geologist contains both. It is this book is immense, including sociology, trophic interactions provide a general expla- rather disconcerting at first but it soon folklore, poetry, Gaelic language, archaeol- nation of population cycles? In my view, becomes fascinating once you imagine you ogy, history, politics, religion, morality, much more work (involving all elements are making your way with the author, who zoology, geology, palaeontology and geog- of the research programme advocated by passes from one topic to another according raphy. This breadth makes it impossible Turchin) is needed to settle this question. to either the area he’s visiting or an inciden- to dissect the book into particular sections Turchin claims that ecology has become a tal encounter with a curio of nature. (as Taylor puts it, it is like trying to cut mature science,but I think it is still maturing, The Cruise of the Betsey is mainly an quicksilver). Yet Miller’s style is clear and and as such is all the more exciting to work account of Miller’s geological and journalis- steady,with great care for detail.It variously in — it is during the maturing stages of any tic exploration of the Scottish isles of Eigg, recalls Walter Scott, Balzac and sometimes life cycle that the interesting developments Rum and Skye in 1844 and 1845; Rambles even Jules Verne. Although undoubtedly happen. I am quite sure that Elton and the of a Geologist relates to voyages he made in Victorian, Miller’s English is remarkably group around him in the Bureau of Animal the late 1840s through Scotland to Caithness easy to read for non-native anglophones. Population, which he set up at Oxford Uni- and Orkney in search of geological and Miller often alludes to rainy days versity, would have agreed and been happy palaeontological outcrops. The two texts (“another rainy day, varying only from the about the development of what they started were first put together in 1857 by Miller’s preceding day by the absence of wind”), so three-quarters of a century ago. I wife, Lydia Fraser, after his suicide in 1856. put on your boots and raincoat (or plaid) Nils Chr. Stenseth is at the Centre for Ecological This new edition is enriched with a foreword and just wander with him along the shore. and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of by T. C. Smout, Scotland’s historiographer Listen to him, inspired by a dead, tortured Biology, University of Oslo, Blindern, royal, and with a detailed and informative fish on the beach, considering the origin of N-0316 Oslo, Norway. introduction by M. A. Taylor, a palaeontol- moral evil, or, in a cave on Eigg, meditating ogist at the National Museums of Scotland. over a sixteenth-century clan massacre, or It also contains a geological timetable, a explaining why Cromwell’s helmet and glossary, notes and an index, although there Devonian fish scales were similarly fluted. is no simplified geological map of the areas I warmly recommend this marvellously Rambling in the rain being considered. rambling book, which is full of sensitivity The Cruise of the Betsey with Miller was a self-taught man. As a young and poetry, to anyone who loves Scotland Rambles of a Geologist stonemason he became fascinated by the or is a humanist, a sociologist, an ethnol- by Hugh Miller, with a preface by fossils he found around his native town of ogist, a geologist, a palaeontologist or just a T. C. Smout and an introduction and Cromarty in Scotland, especially the Devon- fossil fan. I notes by M. A. Taylor ian (470-million-year-old) fish and Jurassic Philippe Janvier is at the CNRS, Département National Museums of Scotland: 2003. (150 million-year-old) molluscs. In learning Histoire de la Terre, Muséum National 576 pp. £20 about geology and palaeontology he found d’Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France. Philippe Janvier no conflict between his Calvinist faith and the history of life told by the rocks. But by More on Miller It is rather unusual to find poems, folklore rejecting a literal reading of Genesis about Celebrating the Life and Times of and polemic in the same book as an analysis the history of life on Earth, Miller helped to Hugh Miller of the structure of the scales from 370- promote science within the strongly reli- edited by Lester Borley million-year-old lobe-finned fishes. But gious society of his time. He was a talented Cromarty Arts Trust/Elphinstone Institute, Hugh Miller’s The Cruise of the Betsey with writer, and his books on this subject, The University of Aberdeen, £13. 50

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