INDIANA UNIVERSITY
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

January 4, 1951

Dr, Joshua Lederberg
Department of Genetics

The University of Wisconsin
College of Agriculture
Madison 6, wisconsin

Dear Johsua:

I was really disappointed in your letter of December 22
because I looked forward to the possibility of a joint volume
with you. However, I know what you mean by being left
exhausted from writing. Your comment on not yet having a
research organization that can roll along without your constant
attention amuses me just a little bit. I wonder whether that
is ever achieved by anyone. I have had a research group
working together for quite a while, but I still find that it
takes constant attention every day and most of every day to
keep things running smoothly. If you ever discover the
secret for getting it to roll under its own momentum, please
pass it along to me, for here is one man who would welcome
that information tremendously.

Your suggestions about the volume are much anpreciated and
I shall certainly take them into consideration. I shall also
undoubtedly avail myself of your kind offer to look over the
material on bacteria if and when I vet it writren. This will be
a wonderful help to me, I am sure. Your decision to withhold
writing a book on genetic bacteriology for about ten years is
undoubtedly a wise one and has much to recomend it. On the
other hand, while I have shared this view about the genetics of
microorganisms in general, I still feel that a start has to be
wade even though it is a very imrerfect start and ore which will
be out of date very quickly, for there is so much interest in
the field and so much clamoring for an organized presentation of
material that I believe this need should be satisfied even
though it is a tentative and immerfect effort. I only hope that
I will see the thing throuch.

Thank you also for your kind and standing invitation to visit
Madison. I hope to be able to avail nyself of it before very long.
With best greetings of the season to vou and your gcod wife,

Cord'ally yours,

ay
TMS* eg T. M. Sonfieborn