The Nobel Duel

By Nicholas Wade,

Book cover of The Nobel Duel: Two Scientists' 21-Year Race to Win the World's Most Coveted Research Prize

Book description

Describes the long rivalry between two research scientists to win the Nobel Prize for chemistry

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Nobel Duel as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Of course I love an exposé, heavily seasoned with gossip. Wade’s book tells the story of a race between two teams of scientists to discover the structure of an important brain hormone.

The reality of science is laid out in all its guts and glory: each team leader’s vaulting ambition to win the race, the complicated, error-prone nature of scientific research, and the tremendous and tedious effort involved from day to day—one of the team leaders later estimated he had processed 100,000 pig brains, just to extract enough of the vital substance to run through a testing regime.

In a…

From Michael's list on show how science really works.

Want books like The Nobel Duel?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Nobel Duel.

Browse books like The Nobel Duel

Book cover of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Book cover of Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts
Book cover of Intuition

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Nazi Germany, the scientific method, and the brain?

Nazi Germany 158 books
The Brain 168 books