Lewis I. Held, Jr. is Associate Professor of Developmental Genetics in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University. He is a fly geneticist who has taught human embryology for 35 years. He studied molecular biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, 1973), investigated bristle patterning under John Gerhart at the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D., 1977), and conducted postdoctoral research with Peter Bryant and Howard Schneiderman at the University of California, Irvine (1977–86). This is his sixth scholarly monograph, following Models for Embryonic Periodicity (Karger, 1992), Imaginal Discs (Cambridge, 2002), Quirks of Human Anatomy (Cambridge, 2009), How the Snake Lost its Legs (Cambridge, 2014), and Deep Homology? (Cambridge, 2017).
'With rigorous arguments presented in captivating prose and crystal-clear drawings so rich in information, this new masterpiece by Lewis Held is a unique introduction to the genetics of development. Here, monstrous and normal illuminate each other, as products of the same developmental logic. This book is full of inspiring insights, on a par with the works of the great developmental biologists highlighted in its pages.' Alessandro Minelli, University of Padova, Italy, and author of Understanding Development 'Orthodoxy is so rife in science these days it is strangling originality. The spread of 'best practice' as well as the related belief that there is only one ideal way to understand and explain things has stifled both diversity and imagination. ... Lewis Held shows us there is another way - to look at the natural world open-mouthed and open-minded. We are taken on a lively ramble through myriad natural phenomena in countless species and the attempts of scientists to understand them. There is an infectious sense of the wonder and complexity of everything. There are innumerable nuggets to be found and it is fun. ... His book sings like the descant in a choral rendition of a familiar hymn. I recommend it, but don't try and read it all in one go!' Peter A. Lawrence, University of Cambridge, UK