"John Waller takes several of our treasured and carefully nurtured illusions about the nature of science and scientists, and systematically uses history to shatter them. Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, John Snow, Gregor Mendel--even Charles Darwin--will never be quite the same again." --Nature
"An iconoclastic, decidedly revisionist look at the hit-or-miss business of science. Forget everything you know about snakes swallowing their own tails and the burning of blue, gemlike flames. All too often, writes Waller, science evolves despite the institution of science, in which the race goes
not to the most elegant solution but to the fellow with the biggest research grant and the most political power.... Waller's interest lies more in the telling anecdote than in the overarching moral, but he does a good job overall of showing the role of accident--and referees willing to look the
other way--in the everyday work of scientists.... An informal, often entertaining excursion in the history of science."--Kirkus Reviews
"Waller writes with clarity and flair...has a real talent for telling a story."--Roy Porter
"A valuable look sideways at the rolling juggernaut of modern science."--Martin Ince, New Scientist
"John Waller takes several of our treasured and carefully nurtured illusions about the nature of science and scientists, and systematically uses history to shatter them. Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, John Snow, Gregor Mendel--even Charles Darwin--will never be quite the same again." --Nature
"An iconoclastic, decidedly revisionist look at the hit-or-miss business of science. Forget everything you know about snakes swallowing their own tails and the burning of blue, gemlike flames. All too often, writes Waller, science evolves despite the institution of science, in which the race goes
not to the most elegant solution but to the fellow with the biggest research grant and the most political power.... Waller's interest lies more in the telling anecdote than in the overarching moral, but he does a good job overall of showing the role of accident--and referees willing to look the
other way--in the everyday work of scientists.... An informal, often entertaining excursion in the history of science."--Kirkus Reviews
"Waller writes with clarity and flair...has a real talent for telling a story."--Roy Porter
"A valuable look sideways at the rolling juggernaut of modern science."--Martin Ince, New Scientist
"John Waller takes several of our treasured and carefully nurtured illusions about the nature of science and scientists, and systematically uses history to shatter them. Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, John Snow, Gregor Mendel--even Charles Darwin--will never be quite the same again." --Nature
"An iconoclastic, decidedly revisionist look at the hit-or-miss business of science. Forget everything you know about snakes swallowing their own tails and the burning of blue, gemlike flames. All too often, writes Waller, science evolves despite the institution of science, in which the race goes not to the most elegant solution but to the fellow with the biggest research grant and the most political power.... Waller's interest lies more in the telling anecdote than in the overarching moral, but he does a good job overall of showing the role of accident--and referees willing to look the other way--in the everyday work of scientists.... An informal, often entertaining excursion in the history of science."--Kirkus Reviews
"Waller writes with clarity and flair...has a real talent for telling a story."--Roy Porter
"A valuable look sideways at the rolling juggernaut of modern science."--Martin Ince, New Scientist
"John Waller takes several of our treasured and carefully nurtured illusions about the nature of science and scientists, and systematically uses history to shatter them. Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, John Snow, Gregor Mendel--even Charles Darwin--will never be quite the same again." --Nature
"An iconoclastic, decidedly revisionist look at the hit-or-miss business of science. Forget everything you know about snakes swallowing their own tails and the burning of blue, gemlike flames. All too often, writes Waller, science evolves despite the institution of science, in which the race goes not to the most elegant solution but to the fellow with the biggest research grant and the most political power.... Waller's interest lies more in the telling anecdote than in the overarching moral, but he does a good job overall of showing the role of accident--and referees willing to look the other way--in the everyday work of scientists.... An informal, often entertaining excursion in the history of science."--Kirkus Reviews
"Waller writes with clarity and flair...has a real talent for telling a story."--Roy Porter
"A valuable look sideways at the rolling juggernaut of modern science."--Martin Ince, New Scientist
