Synopsis
What typifies a scientist? In a brief essay that is a bird's eye view of the character of scientists over time, specialty and method, we find that only one common denominator persists: their curiosity and passion for science. What happens then to this drive in the cutthroat biotech industry or in the ravines of bioethical issues like those relating to IVF? The two themes are developed in fictional stories based on real characters. A companionable guide, Jim, participates to the events unfolding and tells them. As a scientist at the forefront of his research in one story and as a mature science journalist in the other, Jim often finds refuge in mental games and visual models of his own creation and thus survives the upheavals. In Bourse Brigands financial interests hijack science while Alba, its committed protagonist, fights for her passion to ferry science across to the wider world. In Eve's Speed a young embryologist finds two mutant human embryos in her IVF work. But her life spins out of control when scientific arrogance raises its head and makes her blind to reality and ethical rules. The Scientist offers a glimpse into another world not just through its technical details but also because it shows how scientists think and behave. We are in the factual world of IVF, embryology, stem cell research, commercial and scientific clashes, professional paranoia and the legal and ethical issues that all raise.
About the Author
Alessandra A. (Alex) Pucci has been a scientist for more than thirty-five years. After taking science degrees from the Italian Universities of Pisa and Florence, she obtained a Ph.D in Immunology from the University of Sydney; Alex has written scientific articles while working in medical research. Later, took up courses in journalism and published scientific articles for the general public in several journals. She's also followed creative writing courses for a number of years. Having worked in medical research and then in bio-business and medical enterprises, Alex has come across many scientists with interesting characters. Yet, she finds that there is very little written on them, apart from biographies of the most famous ones, celebrities in their own fields. In other books, scientist are portrayed as mad or deluded, caricatured in unrealistic roles. Alex wants the reader to have a glimpse of the real scientist's world, a taste of what happens in it. In fact, she wants to let them hear the scientists' authentic voices since the book is all built on real experience. Alex is based in Sydney, Australia, but has also lived elsewhere: in Eritrea (Africa) where she was born from Italian parents and stayed until seventeen; In Italy, in Pisa and Florence; in France, in Nice and Paris. Alex also spent several months in the USA as 1987 Eisenhower Fellow (Multination Program) and visited there a large number of research establishments and Biotech companies from Massachusetts to California, from Indiana to Texas. Over two decades in Australia, Alex has been appointed to various Government advisory roles, including membership of the Science and Technology Council that advises the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She was made an Officer of the Italian Republic and an Officer of the Order of Australia. She was also awarded the Centenary Medal, all for services to Science and Industry. Her story is recorded in the National Library o
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