The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, in Melbourne, is one of the premier research centres in Australia, with a superb reputation internationally. It specialises in the investigation of the human immune system, in related areas of cancer research, and in the scientific struggle against autoimmune diseases.

Sir Gustav Nossal has written a memoir of his 30-odd years as director of the Hall Institute, from the mid-1960s to the mid-'90s, detailing its expansion, its many triumphs, and its occasional set-backs and frustrations. This is an inspiring story of a local institution punching well above its weight in the international arena.

The book will appeal most strongly to a rather specialised audience: individuals who've had some connection with the Hall Institute over the years, and those who have a particular interest in the history and sociology of biomedical research. Then again, the first category alone probably numbers many thousands of people.

Though Nossal writes in an easy, even breezy, style (sometimes, indeed, erring on the side of breathlessness), this is a book crammed with details, rather than one with a compelling narrative arc involving the scientific quest of a small number of key figures. It can be difficult making sense of the huge cast of characters — the researchers, technicians, and other staff who helped maintain the Institute's pre-eminence during Nossal's decades of leadership. At the same time, as he acknowledges, the deeply detailed descriptions of the research programs are sometimes technical to the point of being heavy going.

Still, Nossal has done the Hall Institute proud. Diversity and Discovery is a fine record of an exciting period in Australian biomedical research. Though a more journalistic book with a narrower focus would have been needed to attract a mass audience, people with a slightly more specialised interest will find much here to enjoy and admire. The Hall Institute, and Nossal himself, should be regarded as national treasures.