Synopses & Reviews
Highly regarded science journalist Eugenie Samuel Reich recounts the case of wunderkind physicist Jan Hendrik Schön, who faked the discovery of a new superconductor at the world famous Bell Laboratories. Many of the worlds top scientific journals and experts, including Nobel Prize-Winners, supported Schön, only to learn that they were the victims of the biggest fraud in science. What drove Schön, by all accounts a mild-mannered, modest, and obliging young man, to tell such outrageous lies? Reich dives into the riveting world of science to examine how fraud perpetuates itself today. Schöns rise and fall will be an essential and fascinating account of the missteps of the scientific community for years to come.
Review
"Plastic Fantastic offers a compelling, timely and well-written dissection of our eras most outrageous scientific fraud, and of what it means for science today.”--American Scientist Magazine
“Reichs readable account of a fairly recent science fraud, is valuable chiefly as a close look at the 'kitchen' where scientific results are assembled and validated—and whence occasionally comes forth something that should not have seen the light of day.”--John Derbyshire, The Wall Street Journal
“Reich pursues this affair in depth…does an excellent job of dealing with the facts of the Schön case”—Martin Blume, Nature
"Eugenie Samuel Reich offers an inside look into how the scientific establishment deals with human imperfection. Plastic Fantastic is a transfixing cautionary tale of how easily wrongdoers can hide and thrive in modern science." —Jörg Blech, author of Inventing Disease and Pushing Pills
"In a warts 'n all expose of the scientific process, Eugenie Reich investigates the world's greatest scientific fraud. Fascinating, startling and highly readable. If you thought science was as pure as the driven snow, prepare to be shocked." —Justin Mullins, consultant editor, New Scientist
“A riveting tale of scientific detective work, and a story about an important issue in science that is often overlooked. A well researched page-turner.” —Amir Aczel, author of Fermats Last Theorem
About the Author
Eugenie Samuel Reich is a former editor at New Scientist. She has written for Nature, New Scientist, and The Boston Globe, and is known for her hard hitting reports on irregular science. Several of her reports have resulted in institutional investigations. She lives in Cambridge, MA.
Table of Contents
Introduction * Into the Woods * Hendrik * A Slave to Publication * Greater Expectations * Not Ready to be a Product * Journals with “Special Status” * Scientists Astray * Plastic Fantastic * The Nanotechnology Department * The Fraud Taboo * ‘Game Over * Epilogue * Notes and Additional References