A Life In Science

Brenner is clearly a Compleat Scientist. He lives science, cares deeply about it, is driven by it. In the book he acknowledges his errors and bad guesses and credits others a lot. He has apparently been accused of arrogance elsewhere but he is very self-effacing in this book (except where he's right, in which cases he seems pleased rather than boasting). He gives a great picture of the excitement of those early days and, along with notes from the book's editor, he conveys just how little was known, how much has since been learnt, and how much we now take for granted as obvious and axiomatic. However, even with the background provided, a reader without some molecular biology would probably find this book tough going.

I liked his idea of "Occam's Broom", with which a scientist is allowed sweep under the carpet all the things that don't fit with a hypothesis for the time it takes to do an experiment. Brenner believes that theory shouldn't inhibit experimentation -- scientists should be prepared to put aside some bits of accepted theory if they want and do their experiment anyway. There's value in not being hidebound: perhaps you had a false paradox or were subscribing to an errant idea or maybe you had a mental block or a blind spot that only an experiment could push you through. Because he's a good (great) scientist he doesn't leave them under the carpet though. They are brought out to see what they look like in the new light. Great idea. Good book. He sounds like a great scientist to work for.

He wrote something else which resonated. He was once part of a lunch club between four scientists that escalated to the arduous preparation of gastronomic delights. Then, one day, one scientist, prone to sleeping in, sheepishly produced four bags of fish and chips. The club was never the same again and disbanded soon after. Anyone who has tried to organize a journal club or a conference or a committee can probably recount an orthologous experience.

Brenner elsewhere

• Wikipedia:Sydney Brenner