Phage and the Origins of Molecular Biology

Book excerpt: This is an expanded edition of the landmark collection of 35 essays by pioneers of molecular biology that was first published in 1966 as a 60th birthday tribute to Max Delbruck. The book was hailed as "[introducing] into the literature of science, for the first time, a self-conscious historical element in which the participants in scientific discovery engage in writing their own chronicle. As such, it is an important document in the history of biology..." (Journal of History of Biology). This new edition includes Gunther Stent's obituary of Max Delbruck, two commentaries on issues raised in the book reprinted from Scientific American and Science, and a new preface in which John Cairns reflects on the book's creation and molecular biology's "age of innocence."