By Paolo Mazzarello. Translated and edited by Henry A. Buchtel and Aldo Badiani. 407 pp., illustrated. New York, Oxford University Press, 2000. $90. ISBN 0-19-852444-7.
Great conceptual advances in science are often based on greattechnical advances. Either type of discovery can bring scientificfame. In 1896 Riva-Rocci devised the mercury sphygmomanometerfor measuring blood pressure, but it took several decades forhypertension as a cause of disease to be unmasked. Conversely,Watson and Crick in 1953 discovered the structure of DNA butnot the technique of x-ray crystallography that limited thenumber of possibilities for their model. There are countlessother examples, but it is rare for a scientist to develop botha new instrument and new ideas. Camillo Golgi (1843–1925)did his utmost . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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