Customer Reviews

The Bourbaki Gambit

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Djerassi is once again to be commended for writing an entertaining novel to educate the general public about the forces that really drive scientists as individuals, and the world of scientific research in general. If the public is to make intelligent decisions about how to fund, teach, and promote science, then this kind of insight into the (sometimes messy) realities of the research world is a must. For this purpose, a well-told story is worth a hundred dry, factual reports.

The premise of "The Bourbaki Gambit" is excellent. (The title of the book comes from the pseudonymous mathematician Nicolas Bourbaki, although only one character in the book is a mathematician.) An older and highly successful biochemist, feeling that he has been prematurely put out to pasture, seeks revenge by recruiting three other like-minded colleagues to form a pseudonymous and anonymous collaboration. Their goal? To expose the ageist prejudices of the scientific world by publishing outstanding research under a pen name and then, after the kudos roll in, to reveal their true identities. The plan seems perfect---until paradoxically, they become victims of their own success.

In a world where people are living increasingly long and healthy lives, and where collaboration is becoming increasingly important even in traditionally "solitary" fields (as I write this, the renowned mathematician Tim Gowers is experimenting on his blog with "Polymath," a large-scale pseudonymous---but not anonymous---wiki-style collaborative research entity), the premise of "The Bourbaki Gambit" is extremely relevant. Scientists themselves (and not just the general public) would do well to grapple more directly and openly with the problems and issues that are highlighted in this book.

I must confess, however, that I found "The Bourbaki Gambit" to be less well-written than Djerassi's more famous book, "Cantor's Dilemma." One gets the feeling that the author overindulged himself by inserting a lot of trivia about his favorite hobbies and pet interests. These details can be interesting if you happen to share the same interests---for example, even though I am a mathematician and know about Hy Bass, I did not know that he contributed to Bourbaki---but too often they fail to enliven the characters or plot, or contribute to the underlying social commentary, and thus they cause the book to drag. The characters in "Cantor's Dilemma" are more believable, three-dimensional, and likable. So if you have never read Djerassi before, I recommend you start with "Cantor's Dilemma."

By the way, the characters' main scientific discovery in the book is in fact a real piece of science, and the true story of its discovery is quite fascinating in its own right. Be sure to check it out after finishing Djerassi's book.

The collective Individual of the French mathematical community Nicolas Bourbaki is the inspiration for four people in biochemistry: they form the collective individual Diana Skordylis and publish research papers under that name. What breaks up the association is not failure, but success.
The book is slow and almost too literary, but the character development is better than many faster or more interesting novels.
Had they developed a biotoxin or a weapon of some kind, it might have
had spies and intrigue that would
have gained the book a wider audience.
Instead it became a polemic against sex and age discrimination in the
scientific and educational community.
The fact that one gets paid more for getting more published under an individual name and that individuals can't get published without some recognized sponsorship makes the system system somewhat secure
from raging originality and not all an open form. It is not at all clear why older successful people would be threatened by being retired
so that younger people can get at least a chance
should be much of an issue:
a more important issue is the voices who are never heard or even allowed to speak or publish their work or ideas.

This excellent book explored the collaborative process of science in the framework of an interesting story. It is a must read for scientists who should learn lessons from this book. It should be noted however that the author is not a nobel prize winner as the first review would have us believe.