W. H. FREEMAN AND COMPANY in PUBLISHERS

660 MARKET STREET, SAN FRANCISCO 4, CALIFORNIA ¢ TELEPHONE: YUKON 6-5115

April 7, 1959

Dr. George W. Beadle
77 Old High Street
Headington, Oxford
England

Dr, Edward Tatum

The Rockefeller Institute
66th Street and York Avenue
New York 21, New York

My dear friends:

Josh Lederberg has made a suggestion to me that involves
you two. Editorially I like the idea and therefore pass it on
herewith.

Josh is reluctant to revise for book publication his
papers on transduction; che meat of his thoughts is in the
Fapers, and it would be a tedious chore to rewrite and revise
as he would have to do were they to be published in book form
by themselves, However, Josh feels that something could be
done with those papers--something that would be easier as well
as more valuable for advanced students of science and at the
same time a pleasure, He would like to take the main papers,
letting them stand as originally published but annotating each
one--probably in a somewhat personal essay style; in the
annotations, whether they were in the form of footnotes or
addenda to the papers, he would point out the significant
gropings, the places and times where a point was almost clinched
but not quite seen clearly enough--when hindsight is used--and
he would comment on the inevitable blind alleys that a scientist
pursued for a way. I hope I correctly suggest what Josh hes in
mind as to method. What interests me most, however, is his
purpose which is to show how a scientist works through his own
perscnal experience--the gropings, the strains, the to'ing and
fro'ing.

That purpose I like, Ags a publisher of scientific works,
i have often felt that we should publish for advanced students
works that would help them grasp the purposes and methods cf
scientific research. Yet I know that no textbook on the
scientific method would do, (Whenever I think of a book cn
ore. Beadle and Tatus ~2~ April 7, Ly5y

the subject, I cecall the volume cf essays on it by various
individuals, one essay by a German enunclating a procedure
thac he illustrated with Linus Pauling and his ‘method’,
while a subsequent essay in the collection was by Pauling
gaying chat chat way che German attribuced co him was
definicely not a good way to pucaue!) The answer to my
editcrial need, then, is probably the publication of as aany
individual good volumes as wa can find, each cf them peing a
veview of an actual individual experience iliustrative of a
scientifie meched.

fo illustrate I describe anccher projected manuscript
recently prepesed te we by a chemist, Michael Kasha, at
Florida State University, For many years he wocked with
G. N. Lewis, first eat Berkeley and later by correspondence.
We has a file cf the memoranda thac wenc between him and C.N.i.
Kasha would like, cut of both affection and caapect fox G.N.L.,
co prepare & gmall volume that cne might describe as a
sclentific bicgraphy of that great chemist--nct a bliegré@phy in
che waual gense, it would be an evaluaticn of his scientific
life sad method by a co-worker who bas been as close
sciencifically to G.N.L. as anyone, I am told.

With cwc such possibilities in mind as Josh's and
Michael] Kasha's, I see the possibility cf initiating ay
editorial dream along these lines. And thus--afcter what my
ecllege English teacher called this ‘prefacory hogwash'--7
come to you two and where you fic inte che picture. Firgt,
I may say--especiaily as I have been trying co let Beets
enjcy his year in Evrope unfetcered by propisals from me--cthac
dc waa Jcsh--net I--who proposed that I suggest this ts you,
and I carry through with his prepesal and write you cnly
because I feel tae idea has sc much mecit, particularly when
viawei in the brcadec editorial idea chat I described above.

Josh would like to sea you c(wo, either in ccilabcration
oc separately, undertake to choose the more hapertant paper
in your cw work and annotate them similarly for publication
(oy us, of course) aa a companion plece for his. (As a matter
of fact, I think that in part Josh feela thar, were hig alone
to be prepaced and published, scse pecple might feel that he was
&@ bit presumptucus, but in addition I imagine tha: beth he and
i feel that his alone would be imadequate for our joint purposes
without yours.) hac dc you two chink abour che aatcer? 1
Dre. Beadie and Tatum ~ 3- April 7, 1959

assure you, if you haven'c already guessed it, that I an
@ll fox ic and herewith assure publication.

Whe knows? If you two would like to carry ouc the
idea and Josh and Michael Sasha carry out theirs, Linus might
be interested in doing a similar wolume. Lord knows there
ave too many books published, but there ave too few chat have
a pucpose. I do believe there would be a genuine purpose and
value in euch bocke.

Various random and aiscelianecus thoughts have occurred
to me, and I pass them on to you fox consideration im your
thinking. I would like to see these books reasonably shart
~-primarily so we could hold che price dewn and thus make them
more readily available tu the usually impecunicus gcacurcte
atudenc. (Josh noses that not every paper or every detail of
all papers on biosynthesis would be needed, but only chose
papers or portiona neceasary to show the pattern of your work.)
ic goes without saying that I shouid Like tc have each of them
a@ lictie gem cf bookmaking--“‘rich, noc gaudy.‘ Finally, Josh
expressed the hope that his velume could be dene by next January
and yours about the game time; I imagine char you could net meez
this deadline, mcr do 1 think tha: it is mandatery that you do
se, yet Il do think that it would be well fox you, after con-
gidecing the matter, to settle on 4 not-too-diatanc goal in
time, if you agree with Josh and me thac you should undertake
the preparation of such @ book or ocoks.

Ag ever,

WHF rja

ec: Or. Michael Kasha
De. Joshua Lederberg
Dr. Linug Pauling