listen to the music: the life of hilary koprowski

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Listen to the Music: The Life of Hilary Koprowski by Roger Vaughan Springer-Verlag, NY, 2000. £20.50 hardback ISBN 0 38798 849 1 Roger Vaughan’s biography, Listen to the Music: The Life of Hilary Koprowski, begs the question of whether a non-scientific biography of a scientist is possible. Gen- erally, scientists are pretty ordinary people and their lives, like those of most people, lack the dash and panache that make the biographies of, say, Mick Jagger or Marilyn Monroe compulsive reading. And even for those rare scientists who qualify on these grounds – for example, Richard Feynman or James Watson – their research is central to their lives and can a biography that glosses over that research truly be a biography? There is, perhaps, a Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle of scientific biography – as the science is made more accessible through simplification, we lose more and more of the qualities that made it, and the scientist, great. Vaughan has, in fact, made a good attempt at a scientist’s biography written for non- scientists. His subject, Hilary Koprowski, is a larger-than-life character that sustains the story and his area of science has a more immediate relevance to us than, for exam- ple, string theory. Koprowski was born in Poland and took his medical degree at Warsaw University Medical School. In late 1939, he, his wife and his mother escaped from Poland and eventually made their way to Brazil. For much of his early life, music, as well as science, beckoned him as a career but it was his experience in Brazil that confirmed him as a scientist. It was there, by chance, that Koprowski began work for the Rockefeller Foundation in Rio and viruses, and vaccines to combat them, became his life’s work. Listen to the Music tells of Koprowski’s many achievements: his early work on a polio vaccine; his more successful rabies vaccine; his fundamental research on SV40, a cancer causing virus; and on developing monoclonal antibodies for attacking can- cer. Perhaps Koprowski’s greatest success was transforming the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia from a gently decaying insti- tute into a dynamic research center. This was not achieved easily and Vaughan re- counts the machinations that took place in the early 1990s when attempts were made to force Koprowski’s retirement (he was 74 years old in 1990). Controversy continues to swirl around him. Accusations have been made that the polio vaccine used in trials in the Congo was contaminated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. This is highly unlikely, but at- tempts are being made to determine if the last remaining stocks of the vaccine contain HIV. Vaughan devotes no fewer than seven pages to a description of Koprowski’s dog, Porthos, a French breed called a Beauceron that resembles a Doberman–Rottweiler cross. Beaucerons bark aggressively but Porthos’ bite was worse than his bark. His favorite target was the victim’s face and one woman was assaulted so severely that reconstruc- tive surgery was required for her nose. In fact, Porthos sent 26 people to hospital but Koprowski’s response to the dog’s behavior was to consider providing plastic Grouch Marx nose-and-glasses for visitors so that the dog would bite on plastic and not flesh. Koprowski not only tolerated such a mon- ster – ‘the devil dog from hell’ as a col- league described it – but also, apparently, re- garded Porthos as a ‘third son’ and, after its death, published a 26 page commemorative booklet celebrating it. It is said that owners and dogs grow to be like one another and this is not lost on some of Koprowski’s acquaintances: ‘Porthos tells you a lot about HK (Hilary Koprowski)’; ‘an outgrowth of himself’; ‘he loved that the dog … attacked people’. Nor will the par- allels be lost on the reader of this biography. We learn that Koprowski resolved any conflict between his mother and wife in favor of his mother; that he administered an experimental vaccine to 17 young boys, all severely mentally disturbed, at Letchworth Village, without, presumably, informed con- sent; that he deliberately left a colleague’s name off a paper – a ‘cruel thing to do’, he acknowledges today; that Koprowski calls his wife’s autobiography ‘a fantasy’; and forgetting flowers for a pianist led to eight ‘awful’ months for Koprowski’s assistant who would ‘come home in tears every night because he was so rotten.’ And so it goes on. If cruelty is a characteristic of Koprowski, why then do his colleagues and friends tolerate him? It appears that he was ‘the most creative, the boldest, the most cul- tured, the hardest-working, the most out- spoken, the most battle-scarred,’ not to men- tion being ‘so masculine, so persuasive a personality.’ Although Vaughan, too, has clearly fallen under Koprowski’s spell, he has written a revealing biography of a fascinating, although flawed, character, apparently a ‘scoundrel with a good heart’. Jan A. Witkowski Corrigendum Pyle, C.M. (2000) Art as science: scientific illustration, 1490–1670 in drawing, woodcut and copper plate Endeavour 24(2), 69–75 The author’s e-mail address should read: [email protected] Figure 2 Leonardo da Vinci, ventricles of the hu- man brain in situ, was transposed during printing: the head should face left. 142 Endeavour Vol. 24(3) 2000

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Listen to the Music:

The Life of Hilary Koprowski

by Roger VaughanSpringer-Verlag, NY, 2000.£20.50 hardbackISBN 0 38798 849 1

Roger Vaughan’s biography, Listen to theMusic: The Life of Hilary Koprowski, begsthe question of whether a non-scientificbiography of a scientist is possible. Gen-erally, scientists are pretty ordinary peopleand their lives, like those of most people,lack the dash and panache that make thebiographies of, say, Mick Jagger or MarilynMonroe compulsive reading. And even forthose rare scientists who qualify on thesegrounds – for example, Richard Feynman orJames Watson – their research is central totheir lives and can a biography that glossesover that research truly be a biography?There is, perhaps, a Heisenberg’s UncertaintyPrinciple of scientific biography – as thescience is made more accessible throughsimplification, we lose more and more of thequalities that made it, and the scientist, great.

Vaughan has, in fact, made a good attemptat a scientist’s biography written for non-scientists. His subject, Hilary Koprowski, is a larger-than-life character that sustainsthe story and his area of science has a moreimmediate relevance to us than, for exam-ple, string theory. Koprowski was born inPoland and took his medical degree atWarsaw University Medical School. In late1939, he, his wife and his mother escapedfrom Poland and eventually made their wayto Brazil. For much of his early life, music,as well as science, beckoned him as a career

but it was his experience in Brazil thatconfirmed him as a scientist. It was there, bychance, that Koprowski began work for theRockefeller Foundation in Rio and viruses,and vaccines to combat them, became hislife’s work.

Listen to the Musictells of Koprowski’smany achievements: his early work on apolio vaccine; his more successful rabiesvaccine; his fundamental research on SV40,a cancer causing virus; and on developingmonoclonal antibodies for attacking can-cer. Perhaps Koprowski’s greatest successwas transforming the Wistar Institute inPhiladelphia from a gently decaying insti-tute into a dynamic research center. Thiswas not achieved easily and Vaughan re-counts the machinations that took place inthe early 1990s when attempts were made toforce Koprowski’s retirement (he was 74years old in 1990). Controversy continues toswirl around him. Accusations have beenmade that the polio vaccine used in trials inthe Congo was contaminated with humanimmunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causesAIDS. This is highly unlikely, but at-tempts are being made to determine if thelast remaining stocks of the vaccine containHIV.

Vaughan devotes no fewer than sevenpages to a description of Koprowski’s dog,Porthos, a French breed called a Beauceronthat resembles a Doberman–Rottweiler cross.Beaucerons bark aggressively but Porthos’bite was worse than his bark. His favoritetarget was the victim’s face and one womanwas assaulted so severely that reconstruc-tive surgery was required for her nose. Infact, Porthos sent 26 people to hospital butKoprowski’s response to the dog’s behaviorwas to consider providing plastic GrouchMarx nose-and-glasses for visitors so thatthe dog would bite on plastic and not flesh.Koprowski not only tolerated such a mon-ster – ‘the devil dog from hell’ as a col-league described it – but also, apparently, re-garded Porthos as a ‘third son’ and, after itsdeath, published a 26 page commemorativebooklet celebrating it.

It is said that owners and dogs grow to belike one another and this is not lost on someof Koprowski’s acquaintances: ‘Porthos tellsyou a lot about HK (Hilary Koprowski)’;‘an outgrowth of himself’; ‘he loved that thedog … attacked people’. Nor will the par-allels be lost on the reader of this biography.We learn that Koprowski resolved anyconflict between his mother and wife infavor of his mother; that he administered anexperimental vaccine to 17 young boys, all

severely mentally disturbed, at LetchworthVillage, without, presumably, informed con-sent; that he deliberately left a colleague’sname off a paper – a ‘cruel thing to do’, heacknowledges today; that Koprowski callshis wife’s autobiography ‘a fantasy’; andforgetting flowers for a pianist led to eight‘awful’ months for Koprowski’s assistantwho would ‘come home in tears every nightbecause he was so rotten.’And so it goes on.

If cruelty is a characteristic of Koprowski,why then do his colleagues and friendstolerate him? It appears that he was ‘themost creative, the boldest, the most cul-tured, the hardest-working, the most out-spoken, the most battle-scarred,’ not to men-tion being ‘so masculine, so persuasive apersonality.’ Although Vaughan, too, hasclearly fallen under Koprowski’s spell, hehas written a revealing biography of afascinating, although flawed, character,apparently a ‘scoundrel with a good heart’.

Jan A. Witkowski

CorrigendumPyle, C.M. (2000) Art as science: scientific illustration, 1490–1670 in drawing, woodcut andcopper plate Endeavour24(2), 69–75

The author’s e-mail address should read:[email protected]

Figure 2 Leonardo da Vinci, ventricles of the hu-man brain in situ, was transposed during printing:the head should face left.

142 Endeavour Vol. 24(3) 2000