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• ISBN13: 9780309072700
• Notes:

In 1989 Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery that normal genes under certain conditions can cause cancer. In this book, Bishop tells us how he and Varmus made their momentous discovery. More than a lively account of the making of a brilliant scientist, How to Win the Nobel Prize is also a broader narrative combining two major and intertwined strands of medical history: the long and ongoing struggles to control infectious diseases and to find and attack the causes of cancer.

Alongside his own story, that of a youthful humanist evolving into an ambivalent medical student, an accidental microbiologist, and finally a world-class researcher, Bishop gives us a fast-paced and engrossing tale of the microbe hunters. It is a narrative enlivened by vivid anecdotes about our deadliest microbial enemies--the Black Death, cholera, syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria, smallpox, HIV--and by biographical sketches of the scientists who led the fight against these scourges.

Bishop then provides an introduction for nonscientists to the molecular underpinnings of cancer and concludes with an analysis of many of today's most important science-related controversies--ranging from stem cell research to the attack on evolution to scientific misconduct. How to Win the Nobel Prize affords us the pleasure of hearing about science from a brilliant practitioner who is a humanist at heart. Bishop's perspective will be valued by anyone interested in biomedical research and in the past, present, and future of the battle against cancer.

This is the only book to explore every aspect of the prize: its founder, its aura, all its fields (literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, peace, and economics), and its laureates' personalities and rivalries, as well as its controversies and blunders.

In The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize, Doherty recounts his unlikely path to becoming a Nobel Laureate. Beginning with his humble origins in Australia, he tells how he developed an interest in immunology and describes his award-winning, influential work with Rolf Zinkernagel on T-cells and the nature of immune defense. In prose that is at turns amusing and astute, Doherty reveals how his nonconformist upbringing, sense of being an outsider, and search for different perspectives have shaped his life and work.

Doherty offers a rare, insider's look at the realities of being a research scientist. He lucidly explains his own scientific work and how research projects are selected, funded, and organized; the major problems science is trying to solve; and the rewards and pitfalls of a career in scientific research. For Doherty, science still plays an important role in improving the world, and he argues that scientists need to do a better job of making their work more accessible to the public.

Throughout the book, Doherty explores the stories of past Nobel winners and considers some of the crucial scientific debates of our time, including the safety of genetically modified foods and the tensions between science and religion. He concludes with some "tips" on how to win a Nobel Prize, including advice on being persistent, generous, and culturally aware, and he stresses the value of evidence. The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Noble Prize is essential reading for anyone interested in a career in science.

• ISBN13: 9781554074167
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

The story of the winners of the world's most prestigious prize.

The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award one can receive. The Prize is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and the award ceremonies receive extensive media coverage. The awards are often politically controversial, and many winners use their acceptance speech to further personal causes.

Along with background information, the book provides a look at the 200 most famous and most interesting Nobel winners. They are profiled by prize and by year. A photo or illustration appears with each profiled Laureate. Other illustrations help to explain complex subjects in science and make it easier for the reader to appreciate the accomplishments for which the prize has been awarded.

A number of fascinating facts emerge from this lively account. For example, only 34 of about 800 Nobel Laureates have been women, among them Marie Curie, who won twice. Linus Pauling is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes, the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize. The youngest Laureate is Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 years old when he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his father in 1915. The oldest is 90-year-old Leonid Hurwicz, who received the 2007 Economics Prize. Two Laureates have declined the Nobel Prize: Jean-Paul Sartre, and Le DucTho. Other famous names include Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, and James Watson and Francis Crick, discoverers of DNA.

Nobel: A Century of Prize Winners is sure to find a readership among the millions who follow the awards each year and want to understand more about the most important prize in the world.

The Nobel Prize is widely seen as a mark of genius and the greatest reward a scientist can receive in his or her career. Universities and research institutions vie with each other to attract Nobel laureates, and students in the sciences dream of one day being prizewinners themselves. How could we possibly doubt the integrity of this prestigious award?

In this first in-depth study of the Nobel archives, Robert Marc Friedman reveals a prize that is above neither the dictates of fashion and politics, nor the personal agendas of committee members. The cases of Albert Einstein and Lise Meitner are only the best known among many that Friedman examines that underscore how on more than one occasion it has conferred acclaim on mediocrity and denied true brilliance its due. Chronicling the prize's 100-year history, he charts how, in spite of recurring controversy, the prize has attained to the prominence it holds today.

An eye-opening look at one of our greatest cultural icons, The Politics of Excellence ultimately questions the legacy of the Nobel Prize in a culture characterized by intense competition for resources, indecorous commercialism, and hype.