Cybernetics: Circular Causal and Feedback Mechanisms in Biological and Social Systems

CONNECTIVE TISSUES. Charles Ragan, Ed. Transactions of the Fourth Conference. February 18-20, 1953. New York, Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, 1953. 197 pp. $3.75. A conference on connective tissues is sponsored yearly by the Josiah Macy Foundation. Its purpose is to initiate an exchange of ideas among workers interested in the problem and who are drawn from varied disciplines, i.e., biochemistry, pathology, clinical medicine, pharmacology, etc. The transactions are published as verbatim accounts of the informal discussion which takes place during the presentation of papers. This is done to give a realistic and unprejudiced picture of the type of thinking that is being applied to solve problems in this field. The conference was attended by members Charles Ragan, D. Murray Angevine, Granville A. Bennett, Edward W. Dempsey, Karl Meyer, Keith R. Porter, Janet Travell, and Benjamin W. Zweifach, with W. Paul Holbrook acting as chairman. One guest, George M. Hass, reported on the "Isolation and Characterization of Mammalian Striated Myofibrils," while another, Honor B. Fell, in a much shorter session reported on her work with Sir Edward Mellanby concerning "The Effect of Vitamin A on Organ Cultures of Skeletal and Other Tissues." Both of these papers are well illustrated. An introduction, introductory remarks, a general discussion on supposed areas of agreement reached in this conference, and a discussion of problems to be solved are also included. WILLIAM G. BANFIELD