168 pages. Apart from an ownership signature on the half title page, the book is clean, unmarked and solid. "Lewis Thomas (November 25, 1913 - December 3, 1993) was an American physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher....The Lewis Thomas Prize is awarded annually by The Rockefeller University to a scientist for artistic achievement." (Wikipedia) Contents: The unforgettable fire; The corner of the eye; Making science work Alchemy; Clever animals; On smell; My magical metronome; On speaking of speaking; Seven wonders;The artificial heart; Things unflattened by science; Basic science and the Pentagon; Science and "science"; On the need for asylums; Altruism; Falsity and failure; On medicine and the bomb; The problem of dementia; The lie detector; Some scientific advice; The attic of the brain; Humanities and science;On matters of doubt; nLate night thoughts on listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony.