raaiss

** spoiler alert ** This is about the post docs and their bosses who work at a research lab. The story wanders in and out of the perspectives of all sorts of characters. Basic premise: Cliff is downhearted about his lack of results, then suddenly something works, he's curing his mice of cancer. His bosses (Marion and Sandy) are excited - Sandy is all about making money and pushes to publish fast, Marion is more careful but relents. Feng helps Cliff with his research and gets a lot of credit (not his fault). Robin (Cliff's girlfriend) is jealous, but also discovers a possible flaw in the research - either a mistake or done on purpose by Cliff. She ends up leaving, getting a group involved to look into the matter, it blows up into a huge deal that could make or destroy the careers of all these people. Family members also appear (Sandy's wife Ann and daughters Kate, Charlotte, Louisa; Marion's husband Jacob and son Aaron). Themes: science, how we fund science and how realistic it is, moral implications of science, whether it's trustworthy. Does the public have a right to see everything a scientist does, due to our tax dollars funding it? Also, personality clashes and how varying personalities can work together, people using each other's assets to get ahead, research (best) vs. teaching (the easy way out/no glory) This book seemed a little over-dramatic to me. While the large cast of characters (and perspectives) was interesting, it felt like it left a lot glossed over. In trying to fit so many characters into the novel, many of them felt flat or just too simple. I would have enjoyed this more seeing it from one perspective - or perhaps just two or three. Characters like Kate - it was sort of interesting to add her crush on Cliff to the story, but I think more depth on someone else would have been more important/interesting. As far as the science goes, there were some interesting statements about how much scientists should have to disclose and I was impressed with the author's ability to make me continually understand (and agree with) both perspectives on the issue.

2022-11-14 16:51