Gerald Weissmann has been described by John Hollander as "a doctor, a medical scientist, a knowing lover of art and literature, and a modern liberal skeptic." Moving freely between the sciences and the arts in this lively, thought-provoking new book, Dr. Weissmann considers how our nation's sturdy ideals of social progress have animated the best of American science and medicine from the mid-nineteenth century until our own day - from Holmes (Dr. Oliver Wendell, Sr.) to Watson (James).