Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science

Brooks, a science columnist for Britain’s New Statesman, says that at the end of WWII science was “branded” as logical, trustworthy, rational, predictable, and gentlemanly, among other traits. So successful was the attempt to dispel public qualms over science’s potential dangers that even scientists bought into it. But Brooks (13 Things That Don’t Make Sense) pulls back the curtain to show that scientists are fallible humans just like the rest of us. Isaac Newton was aggressively competitive, and routinely kept important discoveries to himself so he could taunt his colleagues with his “secret knowledge.” Einstein fudged his math to support his “beautiful” ideas. Scientists attempted to torpedo the unorthodox ideas of geneticist Barbara McClintock (who eventually won a Nobel Prize for her work) and astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Some scientists have defied rigid ethical standards, tested theories on themselves, and taken their most powerful inspiration from dreams, visions, and illicit drugs. Brooks raises intriguing questions about the value of peer review panels and ethics boards, while illuminating much of the gritty real work performed in ivory towers around the world. Agent: Caroline Dawnay, Peters Fraser & Dunlop (U.K.). (June)