Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest HonorCosmologist and inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) experiment Brian Keating tells the inside story of the mesmerizing quest to unlock the biggest mysteries of the universe and the human drama that ensued. We follow along on a personal journey of revelation and discovery in the publish or perish world of modern science, and learn that the Nobel Prize might hamper rather than advance scientific progress.

Cosmologist and inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) experiment Brian Keating tells the inside story of the mesmerizing quest to unlock the biggest mysteries of the universe and the human drama that ensued. We follow along on a personal journey of revelation and discovery in the publish-or-perish world of modern science, and learn that the Nobel Prize might hamper-- rather than advance-- scientific progress. Fortunately, Keating offers practical solutions for reform, providing a vision of a scientific future in which cosmologists may finally be able to see all the way back to the very beginning.

"By losing the Nobel Prize, Keating has led us to an even greater victory: the recognition that there are more important things in this Universe . . . than the fleeting glory of an earthly award." -- Forbes

"A riveting account of the rise and fall of the seeming confirmation of the cosmological theory of inflation." -- Science

"Charming and clever." -- ScienceNews