Off-beat Biologist: the Autobiography of Alan S. Parkes

Galton Foundation, Cambridge, 1985. First Edition. Hardcover (Original Cloth). Near Fine Condition/Near Fine. Professor Parkes writes: With complete failure at school and no more than a second class pass degree as a start, how did I get by? What, I think, saved me was an inquiring mind, an urge to work and entrepreneurial zest, But I was an innovator rather than a consolidator, and once anything I was involved with got off the ground I tended to lose interest and become fertile soil for something else. I was incredibly lucky: World War I robbed me of an education but gave my father the chance to get me to Cambridge without one. I stumbled into reproductive biology in its early days and before this went stale on me, I was stirred up by World War II and the re-birth of the NIMR at Mill Hill. Then came the freezing saga and the olfactory block to conception. Add to these contact with the FPA, the IPPF, WHO, new Societies, new Journals, my move to Cambridge, the Nuffield Unit in Uganda and finally the turtle farm in the Caribbean. There always seemed to be something new I could plunge into. Now having been around a long time, I can take a bird's eye view of a large slice of time and change; six reigns, two World Wars, carriage and pair to space craft, pen and ink to word processor and magic lantern to video. Expecting nothing more personally, I can look back with warm nostalgia on successes and failures, on good times and bad times, on my friends and my colleagues and, above all, on the fun of having lived. Size: Octavo (standard book size). 485 pages. Dust Jacket is in as new condition, apart from normal shop shelf wear - contains no tears or chips or other damage. Dust Jacket un-clipped. Gilt titles on black panel spine. blue cloth; illustrated by b/w. photo's.;. Includes index & appendices;. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 1-2 kilos. Category: Biography & Autobiography; Biology; Science & Technology. ISBN: 0907232051. ISBN/EAN: 9780907232056. Inventory No: 2482. . 9780907232056 This book is fairly heavy, and may involve extra shipping charges to some countries.