Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World is the title of a new book by Eugenie Samuel Reich. The book tells the story of Jan Hendrick Schön ‘s discovery of a plastic that worked as a superconductor – hailed as a scientific triumph before revelations that his discoveries were fake. (See here for Nature’s editorial about the journal’s retraction of seven papers by Schön.) This book analyses the fraud and considers pressures that force unscrupulous behaviour from science’s rising stars.
Comments from some reviews of the book:
‘…Reich’s journalistic persistence and technical thoroughness yield a largely complete, often dramatic account of Schön’s roguery and downfall.’ – Booklist
‘Eugenie Samuel Reich unpicks the tale with meticulous care.’ – Philip Ball, Sunday Times
‘…a wonderful piece of forensic writing.’ – Clive Cookson, Financial Times
‘It is gripping stuff: a surprising page-turner that is well worth reading.’ – New Scientist
The book is published by Palgrave Macmillan and costs £15.99. For more details and to order, see the Palgrave website.
World Scientific Publishing Company and Nature Publishing Group have just announced that they are co-publishing a book called Nanoscience and Technology. This collection of Reviews from Nature journals will be launched in October 2009 at Frankfurt Book Fair. The book is a collection of more than 30 review articles by internationally renowned researchers working in nanoscience and nanotechnology, first published in various Nature journals. Topics covered include nanomaterials and nanostructures; molecular machines and devices; nanoelectronics; nanophotonics; nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine; and applications of nanotechnology.
“World Scientific and Nature Publishing Group should be applauded for publishing this collection of some of the most important papers in nanoscience,” said Dr. Mark Lundstrom, Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor at Purdue University. “Pulling these papers together in one volume helps put the remarkable advances in this very new field in perspective, and stimulates thinking about future directions in nanoscience and technology. It will be an important resource for the community.”