''The Nobel Duel: Two Scientists' 21-Year Race to Win the World's Most Coveted Research Prize'' is a 1981 book by science journalist

Nicholas Wade Nicholas Michael Landon Wade (born 17 May 1942) is a British author and journalist. He is the author of numerous books, and has served as staff writer and editor for ''Nature'', ''Science'', and the science section of ''The New York Times''. ...

. It describes the rivalry between scientists

Andrew Schally Andrzej Viktor "Andrew" Schally (born 30 November 1926) is an American endocrinologistAndrew V. Schally"Andrew V. Schally" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. of Polish ancestry, who was a corecipient, with Roger Guillemin and Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, of ...

and Roger Guillemin, whose discoveries in hormone research led to them sharing the 1977

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...

. Biochemist

John T. Edsall John Tileston Edsall (3 November 1902 – 12 June 2002) was a protein scientist, who contributed significantly to the understanding of the hydrophobic interaction. Early life Born in Philadelphia, John Edsall moved to Boston with his family at ...

, writing in ''

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

'', wrote "Wade appears to have striven conscientiously to give a fair picture. The book is of interest both as a study of the tumultuous course of some major scientific advances and as a contribution to the sociology of modern science." A reviewer in ''

The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. His ...

'' wrote Wade had gone too far in imputing unattractive motives to the two figures. Maya Pines in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''s "Book World" said it "may be the most unflattering description of scientists ever written". Several reviewers invoked comparisons to ''

The Double Helix ''The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA'' is an autobiographical account of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA written by James D. Watson and published in 1968. It has earned both critical ...

'' by

James D. Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...

, which chronicled the human side of scientific research, with a review in ''

The Journal of the American Medical Association ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biom ...

'' calling it the better of the two, although on a subject of lesser importance. A review in '' The American Biology Teacher'' wrote: "No book since... ''The Double Helix'' has captured the intensity, spirit, and drama of scientific research." Pines called it "worlds away" from ''The Double Helix'' in presenting the research as a "grim, relentless struggle for fame and glory".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nobel Duel, The 1981 non-fiction books Books about scientists Books about the politics of science Books by Nicholas Wade