You might think that the discovery of a longevity drug that would increase life expectancy by a couple of hundred years would make everybody happy. You might think so, but not John Wyndham, master of the scientific paradox…. [In "Trouble with Lichen"] he depicts the waves made by the appearance of a miracle essence called antigerone.

First off, there is a difference of opinion between its two discoverers. One, a dilletantish male savant, is immobilized by the cataclysmic possibilities of a semi-permanent population. The other, a militant lady scientist, spins off and rushes into production…. The collision between the long view and the short gives Mr. Wyndham ample opportunity to develop some of his characteristic ironies.

Martin Levin, "Reader's Report: 'Trouble with Lichen'," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1969 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), September, 1969, p. 46.