The Camel's Nose: Memoirs of a Curious Scientist

As one of the 20th century's foremost animal physiologists, Schmidt-Nielsen, professor emeritus at Duke University, had a major impact on how questions are asked and answered by modern biologists. Over the course of his stellar career, Schmidt-Nielsen has consistently probed the evolutionary adaptations that animals have made to their environment, most often focusing on odd animals in extreme conditions. It was he who demonstrated how behavior and physiology come together to enable the kangaroo rat to survive extreme desert temperatures without drinking any water. He also showed that the camel's nose is actually a well-developed organ designed to ensure that only minuscule amounts of moisture are lost during respiration. Schmidt-Nielsen is at his finest when describing many of the numerous experiments he has undertaken in locations as varied as the Brazilian rain forest, Arctic islands and an oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Through his tales, he imparts a great deal of noteworthy biological information as well as insight into the scientific process. His scant autobiographical material suffers from a competent but dry prose style as well as from an apparent reluctance to probe beneath the surface of his emotional life. Despite the unevenness, however, there is much here to delight those interested in science, as Schmidt-Nielsen's enthusiasm for investigating how organisms make their way in the world proves thoroughly contagious. Editor: Laurie Burnham. (July)