Song Among the Ruins

American distress at the horrors produced by the atomic bombs released on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 generated a laudable desire to salvage something positive from the damage. Immediately after the war, the American government sent survey teams to the bombed cities to evaluate the extent and nature of the damage. An account of those early days has appeared in The Yale Journal [ 1,2]. The report of these studies led to the establishment of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), under the supervision of the National Research Council and the National Academy of Sciences, and with the cooperation of the Allied occupying forces and of the Japanese National Institute of Health. Schull, a newly graduated human geneticist from the University of Michigan, was recruited for the two years beginning in 1949 to direct field studies on the genetic impact of the bomb. After he had completed his first tour of duty, he returned repeatedly to Japan to continue these studies over the next 15 years. His extensive involvement in Japan gave him a sympathetic attitude toward the Japanese people and their culture. He was not a mere observer; he studied Japanese, including calligraphy, and collected Japanese prints, especially those of modern artists. His wife taught English to Japanese students and studied domestic culture such as flower arranging and the tea ceremony. Both members of the family entered actively into the life of the community. His Japanese students and colleagues were convivial friends and drinking buddies as well as collaborators. This book records his reminiscences about his Japanese career. While it discusses a number of research workers and the projects they undertook, it is not much concerned with the design or results of the investigations. The volume is a warm, compassionate personal record of his experiences. Immediately after the war, Japan was a damaged, pauper nation. Schull discusses at some length the successes of the occupation under General MacArthur in helping Japan to evolve from an absolute militaristic monarchy to a democracy and from an impoverished country to one which stands among leaders in world commerce and manufacturing. Although this theme runs through the entire book, it is summarized at the end, especially with regard to the evolution of Japanese medical science. Because the book is highly personal, it does not serve as a history of the ABCC, except in the limited arena of Dr. Schull's participation. He hardly mentions the medical work done by the Commission, and his discussion of important personalities in the ABCC essentially ignores those who made contributions to any program except genetics. Even in this area, he does not present the scientific findings, though he summarizes the implications of the research in a few pages at the end of the book. If the reader accepts the author's objective-to provide a personal account of his experiences and those of his friends-the volume is well worth reading. It does,