Nobel Laureate Launches His First Book

5 February

Nobel Prize winner Professor Peter Doherty offers readers an insider's guide into just what scientists do all day.

About this Title: The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize

Is it possible to be passionate about politics, football or R&B and still be a creative scientist? In this entertaining and inspiring account, Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty offers readers an insider's guide into discovery science and the individuals who work in it. Starting with the story of his own career-its improbable origins in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, and its progression to a breakthrough discovery about how human immunity works-Doherty explores the realities of a life in science. How research projects are selected; how discovery science is resourced and organised; the big problems it is trying to solve; and the rewards and pitfalls of a career in scientific research: all these are explored in The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize. Doherty gives readers an insight into the issues that make him tick -- including his belief that the mission of science is to help make the world a better place to live in. He also essays answers to some of the great questions of our age. Are Nobel Prize winners exceptional human beings or just lucky? Are GMO crops really dangerous? Why can't scientists and born-again Christians get along?

About the Author

Professor Peter C. Doherty AC was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with Swiss colleague, Rolf Zinkernagel, in 1996 for discovering 'the nature of the cellular immune defence', and was also recognised as Australian of the Year in 1997. His Nobel discovery was made during his tenure as a Research Fellow at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR). A Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne and a Burnet Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council, Doherty has led substantial research in viral immunology at JCSMR; the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia; and St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis. He is currently operating active research program at both St Jude and the University of Melbourne.

Opinion

A great tale from a great Australian - and he writes like an angel! - Robyn Williams, ABC Science Show.

"After reading this book, any young person could confidently draw the lesson that abandonment of the arts is not a precondition for scientific success."

"But at its best, this book is both engrossing and, as one would expect, wise about the philosophy and praxis of science. If only our politicians and bureaucrats would learn from it!" (John Carmody, Australian Book Review, Dec 05 - Jan 06)

veski would like to acknowledge that this article is courtesy of Melbourne University Publishing.

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“Understanding ‘friendly microbes’ may well hold the key to preventing allergic diseases including asthma.”

Professor Benjamin Marsland

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