Blog 10 -- THINKING OF MULLER 43 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH

In January 2011 the journal GENETICS will carry a “Perspectives” article on my mentor, H. J. Muller. It was nice to be asked to write about him and it shows his legacy continues two generations after his death when most of his contemporaries in genetics have been forgotten. I wrote on the theme of the price a scientist pays for speaking out on issues concerning science and society. It can be costly; as it was in Muller’s case who went from country to country as politics changed and he became an unwanted critic. Gadflies are necessary but rarely admired while they are alive. Look at Socrates, perhaps the most well-known of social gadflies.