The Survival of the Wisest

by Jonas Salk

The title of the book was not lightly chosen. Paraphrasing the Darwinian notion of the survival of the fittest, Jonas Salk argues that Man's ability to learn how to act wisely is critically important... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006013738X
• ISBN13: 9780060137380
• Release Date: January 1973
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

In the quest for ideas, total evolution and the power of inherent and learned wisdom

This was an excellent read. The main focal point of the work explains that in this current state of human development being "fit" means now, and more than ever, wise. The term wisdom is used in many contexts. This work is written for the common literate man. There are some graphs and ideas to digest through this work, but they are not overwhelming. The language in this work shouldn't be to hard to grasp if you have "earned" a College degree.

seminal, thought provoking, clear, concise

The section dealing with population dynamics in a closed system articulates, in a manner that cannot be denied, the fundamental nature of much which we see around us in our current world.Read it, if you dare, and contemplate the misery of subordinated hordes of people on the planet. Investigate the ramifications to populations of bacteria in a petri dish, when they reach the perimeter of the dish; and reflect on the aberrant behavior of rodents in overpopulated cages.Guaranteed to make you think......

Salk as Philosopher

Jonas Salk is best known as the discoverer of the polio vaccine. He was also a great and visionary thinker and this book probably best exemplifies that side of him. His basic thesis is based on the need to educate the population. He suggests that knowledge will not only advance us in the evolutionary sense it will prevent us from destroying ourselves. This is essential reading and I am sorry to see it out of print. Get it if you can.