Mullis bares all in autobiography

Kary Mullis

Pantheon

Kary Mullis divides his time between surfing, experimenting with LSD and making Nobel Prize winning discoveries. Mullis discovered PCR, a polymerase chain reaction which revolutionized the world of science, changed how people think of DNA and earned him a Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1993.

To call him eccentric would be an understatement. In his new book, "Dancing Naked in the Mind Field," Kary Mullis described his life in terms of science and all other random topics that manage to catch his attention for a few seconds. He infuses the book with a humor entirely unexpected for an autobiography of a scientist.

Much of his humor in his adventures comes from the fact that he works with professional people who take their job seriously and don't know how to deal with an iconoclast like Kary Mullis.

Once he was asked by a safety inspector not to keep his case of beer in the same refrigerator as the radioactive material he worked with. Mullis assured the inspector that the radioactive material was secured in a lead lined case but the inspector sent in another safety official to inspect him anyway. This person turned out to be a woman who ended up moving in with Mullis several months later.

Mullis was also asked to testify about DNA in the OJ Simpson trial. He never was able to take the stand, partly due to his past LSD use, but did manage to smile and wave at the camera when it came to him. He also passed notes with Simpson about a person on the stand who he found attractive.

Mullis' drug use isn't the main focus of the book but he does mention it unselfconsciously on many occasions. His first experiences with drugs were as a child, using codeine from his mother, for pain. He does explain that he was always interested in chemicals, and being a graduate student at Berkeley, his interest in chemicals such as LSD wasn't entirely out of the question.

The overall tone of the book is mainly that of an intelligent person with a sense of himself as unique. Mullis plays up his quirks with a humor that makes him seem utterly normal. His interactions with authority, such as the emperor and empress of Japan, show how he likes being a voyeur in situations to which his fame brings him.

Many things seem important enough to mention. His frequent correspondence with his mother and his visit to a strip club. All the stories have an underlying message that life is short and limitless. Just because a person is a chemist doesn't mean he can't be an accomplished surfer as well. Kary Mullis is not only smart, but cool.

-Caitlin Hall

01-22-99