A Slot Machine, a Broken Test Tube: An Autobiography

“A Slot Machine, A Broken Test Tube is fascinating; rare insight into a great spirit. I mean great in science and in humanity, and I learned a lot about both subjects from Professor Luria’s candid, quirky observations on his profession and his life.”

S. E. Luria, one of the great pioneers of molecular biology, began life as a member of a hypochondriacal Jewish-Italian family in Turin, where he was born in 1912. After taking an M.D. degree, the young Luria decided to pursue research as his life’s work and undertook the study of physics in Enrico Fermi’s laboratory in Rome.