Do Lemmings Commit Suicide?

In 1929, a group of scientists, including the author, working at the
Bureau of Animal Population, Oxford University, began "the pursuit of
the ecological Holy Grail", a scientific endeavor devoted to the
search for the secret mechanisms behind biological life cycles as they
occur in many animal populations. The results are presented here, in
an account of science, not as it should be, but as it really is.
Unlike nearly all science books which tell of successful ventures and
satisfactory conclusions, this book reveals the harsher story of a
scientific question left unanswered. Written by one of this century's
most distinguished small mammal ecologists, it is both a personal
history of and an apology for a life in science spent on research for
which no final dramatic closure was reached. Included along the way
are important anecdotes and history about Charles Elton and his
pioneering work, from which much of modern population has grown, and
insights on the philosophy and practice of science. Whether readers
have an interest in population cycles, life sciences, or the history
and philosophy of science, they will walk away with the inspiring
notion that a life in science without a Nobel Prize is still well worth living.