I need to do some more reading of Ling's ideas before I can claim
even a rudimentary understanding of what his body of work stands for. But my
intuitive reaction thus far is that he is trying to understand and/or
define the organization of a living cell via the mechanics of a living
cell. This is where my disquiet is coming from. I think he's got so many basic
ideas right that it would be tragic if he were to categorically state
something that turns out to be beside the point....
I don't know if he's read any of my father's work, but I don't
see echoes of it in what he's done in his career. That's not a good sign,
because he knew George Karreman, who was a colleague/friend of my father's and
they seemed to travel in some of the same circles. He got his PhD at U of
Chicago, albeit ten+ years before my father was there to work on his. There
should have been some overlap...
Judith