The Biology of the Cell Surface

Biologist Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941) is considered to be one of the most brilliant African American scientists of his era.  Born in Charleston, SC, he earned scholarships to attend northern schools, graduating top of his class at Dartmouth. He taught at Howard University where he became head of the new zoology department. He also studied fertilization in marine invertebrates at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratories and eventually earned his Ph.D. in experimental embryology at the University of Chicago in 1916. This book is a 1988 “Great Books in Experimental Biology” series reprint of his 1939 title, “The Biology of the Cell Surface.” It has been called a theoretical masterpiece, bringing together Just’s life's work in the fundamental field of cellular physiology. Because he saw that institutional racism in the U.S. was limiting his opportunity and ambition, Just exiled himself to Europe in 1930s where academic institutions were more receptive and respectful of him and his work. He continued his work at an intense pace right up to the beginning of World War II, even spending a short time in a German POW camp before making it back to the U.S. in 1940. Sadly, he died in Washington DC in 1941 at age 58 from pancreatic cancer.