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I seldom have chosen books as Picks for the Journal of Chemical Education that are not relatively recent (although there are precedents for this), but the current controversy over "Intelligent" Design brought vividly to mind the 1971 book, "Chance and Necessity" by Nobelist Jacques Monod. While I appreciate the arguments for evolution by people like Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins, Monod's reasoning appeals to me even more as a molecular scientist. I read "Chance and Necessity" when it was first published those thirty-some years ago, and it is a testament to the power of this book that it has stuck with me so strongly for so long. Monod looks at the biomolecular basis of genetics in search of evidence for any non-random processes, which would be required if some design were imposed on the processes of selection. He finds none. In fact, he can positively rule out the existence of such mechanisms. Modern biology tells us, according to Monod, "...it follows that chance alone is at the source of every innovation, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution; this central concept of modern biology is no longer one among other possible or even conceivable hypotheses. It is today the sole conceivable hypothesis, the only one that squares with observed and tested fact. And nothing warrants the supposition - or the hope - that on this score our position is likely ever to be revised. His conclusions are precisely those that are an anathema to traditional believers. In his words, "The ancient covenant is in pieces; man knows at last that he is alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity, out of which he has emerged only by chance. His destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty. The kingdom above or the darkness below; it is for him to choose." Find a copy this important book from your library or locate a used one. ( )

Cet ouvrage, un grand classique désormais, son auteur l'a écrit pour répondre au " devoir qui s'impose, aujourd'hui plus que jamais, aux hommes de science de penser leur discipline dans l'ensemble de la culture moderne pour l'enrichir non seulement de connaissances techniquement importantes, mais aussi des idées venues de leur science qu'ils peuvent croire humainement signifiantes. L'ingénuité même d'un regard neuf (celui de la science l'est toujours) peut parfois éclairer d'un jour nouveau d'anciens problèmes... ". "Tout ce qui existe dans l'Univers, disait le philosophe grec Démocrite, est le fruit du hasard et de la nécessité." Grande figure parmi les pionniers de la biologie moléculaire, le Prix Nobel Jacques Monod (1910-1976) montre la fécondité de cette dualité pour comprendre les grandes problématiques de la biologie - origine de la vie ou évolution des espèces - et saisir les enjeux de la génétique moderne. Si l'homme ne résulte d'aucun projet divin, si son évolution tient davantage du hasard que d'un projet préétabli, rien ne l'autorise pour autant à sombrer dans un matérialisme pessimiste. Face aux défis de la science et de la technique qui vont jusqu'à menacer l'intégrité de l'Homme, Jacques Monod plaide pour l'invention d'un nouvel humanisme intégrant les données de la science. L'ancienne alliance est rompue ; l'homme sait enfin qu'il est seul dans l'immensité indifférente de l'Univers d'où il a émergé par hasard. Non plus que son destin, son devoir n'est écrit nulle part. À lui de choisir entre le Royaume et les ténèbres. --Arthur Hennessy ( )

'Chance alone is at the source of every innovaton, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, only chance, absolute but blind liberty is at the root of the prodigious edifice that is evolution... It is today the sole conceivable hypothesis, the only one that squares with observed and tested fact.' ( )