The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize

March 6, 2006
In 1974, Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel published a paper on T-cells that changed how researchers thought about the immune system. In 1996, they received a Nobel Prize for that work. Here Doherty reflects on his unexpected journey, from veterinary school in Australia to the royal palace in Stockholm. But this book is not a memoir in the strictest sense—it's more like a conversation, full of digressions and anecdotes. Doherty reflects on his life in science, what it means to be a scientist, the difficulty of explaining science to politicians and the importance of everyone understanding how science works. Doherty also does a little to burst the bubble of glory that surrounds the name "Nobel"—many Nobel laureates are so swamped with the consequences of their fame that they can't continue their life's work. Doherty, who is now affiliated with St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., has advice for the aspiring Nobel laureate that ranges from the profound (be prepared to fail) to the head-smackingly obvious (don't die before you get your accolades). Maybe what it means to win a Nobel is that you get your own soapbox: this is Peter Doherty's, which he uses sometimes well (to change the world) and sometimes less well (to examine pet peeves).

April 15, 2006
Australian veterinarians rarely attract the attention of the Nobel Prize Committee. However, 10 years after winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine, this maverick Aussie wants to fit the story of his own scientific odyssey into the much broader tale of Nobel-level research of all kinds. With a lucid style reminiscent of Lewis Thomas, Doherty explains for nonspecialists how various Nobel laureates--including himself--have solved scientific riddles through patient experimentation and theoretical daring. The challenge of making fundamental new scientific discoveries grows complicated, though, when today's sophisticated laboratories, essential for researchers, serve profit-driven corporations or politically volatile governments. And though some Nobel laureates have achieved breakthroughs despite adverse pressures, Doherty worries that scientific progress--particularly in his own field of immunology--may stall if religious fundamentalists continue to gain political traction in the U.S and elsewhere. Such a scientific slowdown, he warns, could expose millions to AIDS and to the looming threat of avian flu. Doherty hopes, however, that open and democratic dialogue will convert morally aroused religionists into the allies, not the foes, of pathbreaking scientists--including tomorrow's Nobel laureates.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)