PRIZE FIGHT: THE RACE AND THE RIVALRY TO BE THE FIRST IN SCIENCE by Morton A. Meyers, M.D.

Morton A. Meyers, MD., Prize Fight: The Race and the Rivalry to be the First in Science (Palgrave Macmillan 2012).  262 pages

(Non-fiction)

Reviewed by Chuck Dayton

Morton Meyers is a Professor of Radiology at SUNY, Stony Brook in New York.  That information is only important because a large portion of this book is devoted to the competition that developed between two men to be the first to discover the magnetic resonance image (MRI) technique and the subsequent awarding of the Nobel Prize. In his position at SUNY, Dr. Meyers knew both of the people involved, and was able to interview them and render opinions about the development of this historic imaging test. Today, MRI is used in many fields.  Probably most of you have had such a scan of a knee or other joint, looking for a mass perhaps, and on your head after a fall. The advantage of this test is that it requires no exposure to radiation. That is why the Nobel Prize was awarded for this new technology.

The book is more than that story, however. It is a fascinating look into the personalities, egos, and chicanery that goes into the science that leads to fame, fortune, and prizes such as the Nobel. The author looks at “stolen” credit for discoveries, scientific fraud, how grants are funded, and the effect of all this on the personal lives of the people involved.

If you have every worked in health care, been a scientist of any kind, or just wondered how prizes for science are awarded, this book is for you.  It is relatively short, easy to read for a non-scientist, and very entertaining. 

THE INHERITANCE OF LOSS by Kiran Desai

Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006).

Penguin Audio, Read by Meera Simhan (10 CDs, unabridged, 2007). Also on Kindle and Mp3.

(NOVEL)

Reviewed by Wilda Morris

                The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai takes place at the crossroads of hope, desire, regret and despair, and at the intersection of history and family. The characters must negotiate an interdependent world impacted by class, culture and ethnicity, the aftermath of colonialism.

                Sai, who is orphaned at a young age, is sent from her boarding school to the home of her grandfather, a retired judge who wants only to be left alone in his once elegant home in Kalimpong, in the Himalayan Mountains. He is disillusioned with his own life, and with his futile attempt to provide some justice to his fellow-countrymen through the court system inherited from the British colonial powers. 

                The cook, who, has sent his only son Biju, to the United States, in hopes he will have a better future for himself and his offspring, looks after Sai more than her grandfather does. He tells Sai false stories about her grandfather, but she eventually sees through some of his tales. When her tutor reaches the limits of her ability to teach Sai, the grandfather engages a young Nepali tutor. Meanwhile Biju, who has overstayed his visa, moves from one New York City restaurant to another, trying to stay a step ahead of immigration officials.

                An Indian-Nepali insurgency in the Himalayan region changes everything and pulls everyone into its vortex in one way or another.

                This fine novel explores issues of colonialism; immigration; ethnic, religious and racial conflicts; identity; and exile, as well as manifestations of poverty in New York City and in India. It deals, at the same time with “coming of age” of the young, and the way the older characters come to terms with their own life stories.

                I don’t want to give the story away – read it yourself to see how successfully (or unsuccessfully) Sai, the retired judge, the cook, Biju, and other characters (including a Swiss priest, a Zanzibari living and working in New York City, two aging sisters who love the BBC) negotiate the stumbling blocks in this complex world of the 20^th century. Kiran Desai, who was educated in India, England and the U.S. knows all three of these countries, each of which provides backdrops to portions of the story.

                The Inheritance of Loss is a good title for the novel, which won the Man Booker Prize for the best fiction from the British Commonwealth and Ireland (2006), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award for a book of fiction by a citizen of India (2006), and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award for books published in English in the United States (2007).