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Geerat Vermeij is blind, but that hasn’t stopped him from gallivanting all
over the world collecting seashells and publishing scores of papers on their
evolution. His autobiography, Privileged Hands (W. H. Freeman, USA,
$23.95, ISBN 0 7167 2954 7), is filled with graceful descriptions of the
shores he’s visited, engaging anecdotes about the perils of his travels and many
musings on the shapes of shells, as well as interesting insights into blindness.
Certain sections of Privileged Hands are less than riveting, but on balance it
is well worth the read.