A study of modern scientific research, a little sloppy and wordy

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	• Intuition Allegra Goodman Dial Press Trade Paperback, 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 60 reviews view larger image
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A study of modern scientific research, a little sloppy and wordy

This overly long novel has at its center an important issue: how our celebrity-driven world of soundbites and "gotcha" politics can provide the understanding and support needed to sustain critical scientific inquiry. While the central scientific figure is Cliff, a cancer research scientist who more or less stumbles into a potentially great discovery, the main conflict is between Marion, the lab's scientific director, and Sandy, the lab's chief administrator. Marion is a traditional ivory-tower scientist, methodical and careful and dedicated to the advancement of knowledge. Sandy is an aggressive promoter who understands the importance of being the first to go public with results and the value of engaging the public mind with the thrill of new finds.

Unfortunately, the story bogs down with relentless irrelevant details (what's on the cafeteria tray at a private school lunch, how a lawyer dresses) and cheapens itself with superficial understandings of media, law and politics. I have not read Goodman previously, but she apparently has reached the level where she can overrule smart copy editors. This is a needlessly wordy book. It would have been better at 300 pages rather than 344.

Finally, despite her reputation for clarity as an author, the ending left me confused about the message of the book.

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The cloistered life

In this book, Goodman continues to explore the themes introduced in her first novel Kaaterskill Falls. Both books are set in closed societies that demand total dedication and immersion by their members, and where personal ambition is expected to give way to the service of a higher calling. In the Orthodox Jewish sect at the heart of Kaaterskill Falls, the adherents are seeking closeness with God; in this book, the "higher calling" is the search for scientific truth. Here, Goodman deftly describes the claustrophobic world of the lab, in which the complex relationships among the inhabitants are much more tenuous and fragile than they seem. The delicate balance of this cloistered world remains intact until the researchers come tantalizingly close to greatness, when internal and external pressures blow everything apart.

Although there is much to admire in this book, somehow, for me, it does not live up to its promise. The characters never really come alive for me; they seem to have been created more to serve the Big Ideas at the core of the work instead of being fully formed individuals. And the plot, while clever, is highly schematic and very tightly controlled. It's sort of ironic that Goodman's primary theme -- that the search for purity and perfection cannot survive the messiness of human emotion -- is undermined to some extent by her own need for control.

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Scientist likes Intuition

Intuition is a fast-moving novel which captures the spirit of science at it is practiced. Perhaps "The Double Helix" (nonfiction, mostly) was the first book of this type. The quest for grants, the pressure to publish, the ethics, the demand for honesty, the pecking order, the characters, all of these ring true based on my career as a scientist. Goodman is able to get inside the heads of many different people ... to really understand their point of view. Describing certain characters who were athiests as having "The Scientific Faith", described in the novel, is a unique insight.

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The mixed fate of those who blow the whistle

The best thing about this book is not the science but the way in which Goodman portrays the human relationships within the laboratory. I've written about and read about whistleblowers in real life, and Goodman's portrayal of Robin rings true. The key moment for her is when she decides to go outside the confines of the lab with her concerns and make a formal report to the NIH. At that point, as the novel makes clear, the issue is no longer the alleged misconduct in the lab but Robin herself. She finds her allies wherever she can, but the establishment closes ranks against her.

When a key member of the establishment has second thoughts about Robin, the novel takes yet another turn.

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I can't praise this novel enough.

It captures the atmosphere of bleak desperation I experienced when I did a postdoc in physics. Also, none of the characters are villains. The author makes their motivations real and shows that by acting with the best of intentions they turn the situation into a train wreck.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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