Science, Not Art - Ten Scientists' Diaries (Paperback, Illustrated Ed)

In this volume a young generation of outstanding scientists, many of them Royal Society Research Fellows and working in fields as diverse as genetics, cosmology, marine biology and palaeopathology, defy the stereotypes, revealing with an unusual honesty the frustrations, comic moments and occasional breakthroughs in the charged and highly competitive world of contemporary science. "Science, not Art: Ten scientists' diaries" is a companion volume to "Art, not Chance: Nine artists' diaries" in which leading artists give readers a unique insight into their working lives. In "Science, not Art" a young generation of outstanding scientists, many of them Royal Society Research Fellows and working in fields as diverse as genetics, cosmology, marine biology and palaeopathology, defy the stereotypes, revealing with an unusual honesty the frustrations, comic moments and occasional breakthroughs in the charged and highly competitive world of contemporary science. What do mathematicians actually do? How are hypotheses dreamed up and then tested in space physiology, climate change or neuroscience? And how does such intense commitment impact on private, domestic and social lives? The book is not intended to stimulate vacuous comparisons between "the creative process" of artists and scientists, but "The Art Newspaper's" description of "Art, not Chance" could equally apply to "Science, not Art": "a generous and radical book, with so much passion, angst and imagination seething between its covers ...compulsory reading for anyone who cares about contemporary culture". The ten scientists are: marine biologist Jon Copley; physical chemist Caroline Dessent; mathematician Marcus du Sautoy; doctor and space physiologist Kevin Fong; geneticist David Gems; cosmologist Janna Levin; biophysicist Tanniemola Liverpool; neurophysiologist Mark Lythgoe; ecologist and meteorologist Yadvinder Malhi; and palaeopathologist Charlotte Roberts.