Biological control of vertebrate pests: the history of myxomatosis, an experiment in evolution

incalculable. The recollection still makes me cringe. There but for the grace, etc. The benefits to be gained from having a friendly expert to advise on technical matters are thus enormous. This is essentially the role Wolbarst's book might fulfil for historians interested in medical imaging. It supplies clear, cogent and accessible accounts ofhow the various imaging technologies work. This historian, for one, was forced to confront the fact that his understanding of the principles ofMRI was somewhat defective. A noteworthy feature of the text is that the physical and technical descriptions are very usefully supplemented with illustrative clinical cases. How the machines serve, sometimes indeed constitute, the process of diagnosis, and how they guide therapy, are effectively conveyed. Safety issues receive a concise but sophisticated and eminently reasonable assessment. This is not, however, a book that historians should resort to to learn about history. Despite the publisher's claims to the contrary, the accounts of the development of the various techniques are slight and partial. I spotted one error. Wolbarst implies (p. 136) that B-mode ultrasound derives its name from reference to the brightness of the image. This is not the case. The terms A-mode and B-mode originated with radar imaging and were so designated merely to distinguish one from the other. C-mode and D-mode also exist. Perhaps physicists in turn need historical advisors.