Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (Bloomsbury paperbacks)

Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (Bloomsbury paperbacks) by Kary B. Mullis
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Dancing Naked In The Mind Field

Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction, a chemical procedure that allows scientists to "see" the structures of the molecules of genes. Mullis is no shy, socially inept bench chemist, though; on the contrary, he has led as big and full a life as possible, opening himself to experiences like hallucinogenic drugs, surfing, casually handling dangerous chemicals, and taking shots at the sacred cows of science. Dancing Naked in the Mind Field is Mullis's own chronicle of his adventures, from wooing countless women to possibly being abducted by aliens, and it's a funny, shocking tale indeed. This man certainly doesn't suffer from lack of self-esteem, and yet you might want him along on a trip to the astral plane, say, or a tour of the human genome. Mullis is a fascinating character and his autobiography will put to rest forever the stereotype of scientist as skeptical nerd. --Therese Littleton,Mullis writes with passion and humour about a wide range of subjects: from science to parapsychology, cloning to HIV and AIDS, global warming to astrology and religion, from the O.J.Simpson trial to a method for turning on a light bulb with one's mind - challenging the authority of scientific dogma.,Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction, a chemical procedure that allows scientists to "see" the structures of the molecules of genes. Mullis is no shy, socially inept bench chemist, though; on the contrary, he has led as big and full a life as possible, opening himself to experiences like hallucinogenic drugs, surfing, casually handling dangerous chemicals, and taking shots at the sacred cows of science. Dancing Naked in the Mind Field is Mullis's own chronicle of his adventures, from wooing countless women to possibly being abducted by aliens, and it's a funny, shocking tale indeed. This man certainly doesn't suffer from lack of self-esteem, and yet you might want him along on a trip to the astral plane, say, or a tour of the human genome. Mullis is a fascinating character and his autobiography will put to rest forever the stereotype of scientist as skeptical nerd. --Therese Littleton
Details of Book:

Dancing Naked In The Mind Field

  • Book:

    Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (Bloomsbury paperbacks)

  • Author:Kary B. Mullis
  • ISBN:0747545537
  • ISBN-13:9780747545538, 978-0747545538
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Publishing Date: 2000-01-21
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • Number of Pages: 240 pages
  • Language: English
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Book Reviews of Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (Bloomsbury paperbacks)
Unfounded, Disorganized, Egotistical, and Bizzare
The possibility for anything profound in this book is far overshadowed by his absurd denial-ism of the HIV to Aids connection, CFCs to Ozone depletion link, and the possibility of climate change in general.. He talks about being abducted by aliens, the ability to be in someone else's mind, and gives credit to horoscopes and astrology.

I expected this book to illustrate an interesting life philosophy or, at the least, tell his account of his invention of the PCR. Instead, all I got was a collection of disorganized rants by a narcissist.

Pick this book up if you're looking for bizarre stories about LSD fueled trips, alien abductions, and experimentation with drugs. If you're looking for something worthwhile, look elsewhere.
Dancing...
Absolutely amazing piece. Mullis is brilliant, sarcastic, hell-bent.. you see a concise picture of what makes him him. His commentary on the world should reveal a lot to any common walnut, while to those interested in biochemistry and the such can smile, applaud, and appreciate the fact that there is at least someone else in the world who understands...
Almost new, excellent conditions
funny reading, but I was expecting something more scientific. However, I enjoyed the book anyway.
"long pretelevision days of evolution"
This book, Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, was so enthralling that I almost read it through literally in one sitting after randomly flipping it open and sitting down to finish the paragraph I first set my eyes on. I came to Amazon excited to give it a positive review and was surprised to find the high number of negative reviews. As far as I can tell, many of the negative reviewers don't understand the author or the point of this book.

Reviewers who describe Mullis as a sloppy, irresponsible scientist who just got lucky need to reflect on the fact that he was recruited by Cetus (the company he was working at when he developed PCR), which also saw fit to put him in charge of a research team. This was all before the Nobel prize; he was making traditional professional progress without celebrity.

One of the things that's clear from the book is that Mullis has a deep life-long concern with systemic power structures and the way they warp both our lives and scientific research. So, for example, critics of his views on HIV/AIDS fail to see that he took a position on the topic after one of his friends was ostracized from the professional community for having the "wrong" views in the early days when AIDS research was new and less settled. The same is true of the OJ Simpson trial, which excited Mullis less because he thought so highly of OJ than because he wanted a chance to take down the enormous and overwhelmingly powerful bureaucracy of the LA prosecutor's office. Likewise, astrology is less about whether the stars affect our personality than about the largely unscientific and ineffective field of mental health.

The other face of Mullis' anti-institutional views is a type of humanism, which leads him to say things that, frankly, make perfect sense to me. NASA spends huge amounts of money on the shuttle program and international space station. What the heck are we getting out of it? Why don't we focus first on figuring out how to protect ourselves from natural threats (like the decimation of life from an asteroid impact) before figuring out how to set up a Mars colony. A Mars colony might be exciting, but it's not very practical and isn't doing anything for the man on the street. At one point, he suggests we might just be better off with priests of medieval religion than with priests of modern science. This is similar to the criticisms Nassim Taleb has been making of our priests of Wall Street, and I think it makes sense.

The writing is fast-moving and humor-filled, although inconsistent. I don't know who came up with the clunky title, but most of the book is wittier. He discusses the fact that his wife Nancy encouraged him in writing this book and then edited it. Some parts about PCR are dumbed down versions of his Nobel Prize lecture, so I suspect his wife encouraged him to write something that would be accessible to the general public but still get across his message that we should turn off the TV, do good science, and enjoy the ride.
I love this book
This book is a great read. It's jam-packed full of scientific quirkiness. I loved it.
Source - Amazon
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