In his new book, The Protean Self, Lifton asserts that proteanism -- the ability to be ironic and even cynical one moment, and sincerely committed to a religious faith the next -- may be the only sane, healthy alternative to fundamentalism in today's turbulent world. Working from his experience as an air-force psychiatrist in the Far East, he has conducted several major studies that bring together psychiatry, ethics and history. Awarded a National Book Award for his report on atomic holocaust survivors, Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima, he is a Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at The City University of New York.