Abstract

What Is Sex?

The article presents information on the book "The Mechanism and Physiology of Sex Determination," by Richard Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt's present book is a notable exception; in the midst of his creative life he fits together his own results and the related bits of truth from all corners of the earth into a set of mature deductions--a strictly scientific purpose. At the same time he has invited general readers to enter along with the specialists. He gives the necessary elementary introductions; he keeps the main points clear of the multitudinous details; he defines his terms. One does not get far into this book without realizing how much broader is the meaning of the word sex to a biologist than to others; how utterly different are his sex problems from those of the layman.