Customer Reviews

The Politics of Excellence: Behind the Nobel Prize in Science

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This is the 100th anniversary of the Nobel prizes, and it's a wonder it took this long for someone to take a good look at what went on behind the scenes in Stockholm for all these years. Friedman's book dishes dirt but does it with white gloves and a magnifying glass. The footnotes are just as much fun as the book itself. The book answers some of the questions about the wierdness associated with the Nobels. For one: What did they have against Einstein? The conspiratorial answer is here in the chapter - "Einstein Must Never Get a Nobel Prize." For another: Who got the money when they didn't award a prize?

This book is eminently readable from several professional angles. It has delicious Nobel trivia hidden on every page. It explains science so that I can understand most of it, even quantum theory. I wish there were photographs of the winners and the major players, and I wish the list of winners would have included descriptions of what they won for, but those are only slight criticisms.

The story of the intrigue and pettiness behind the Nobels is presented chronologically. Most important to me was that Friedman not only explains what happened - and he deserves extra credit for cheerfully explaining the tedious machinations behind Swedish scholarly politics - but presents the motivation, much of it a surprising pro-German bent, behind the events.

I am acquainted with Prof. Friedman, and only a fellow with a deep sense of professionalism and and an equally sharp sense of humor and irony could have pulled this off.

Friedman's dramatic, richly detailed book is essential reading for those wanting to understand the Nobel physics and chemistry decisions in their first fifty years.