Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty. James H. Austin. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003, 245 pp., $18.95, paperback. ISBN 0-262-51135-5.

[摘要] Perhaps it was just serendipity that the editor asked me to comment on this book. If it was, then I had little knowledge, before reading it, what impact serendipity could, or does, have on our lives. Dr. Austin has revised his earlier book, published in 1978, without too much discussion of the reasons for revision except to emphasize the ageless questions that contrast luck vs creativity and how these affect success in research and life.The book discusses the three elements of the title in an engaging manner. Autobiographical experiences dominate the first section, in which the author uses his experience as a physician and researcher in the field of neurology to highlight the ways in which the search for progress (the chase) can be influenced by apparently …

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学