Intuition

by Allegra Goodman

Our story begins in Cambridge, MA, land of the brains. We meet our researchers in the Mendelssohn-Glass lab at the Philpott Institute. Our researchers/postdocs are busy, and the lab directors, Marion Mendelssohn and Sandy Glass, have high hopes for them.

The research game is intense, and no one knows this better than Robin and Cliff, both postdocs at the lab. Robin’s been at the lab for years, working on a project that is going nowhere. Cliff’s latest cancer research seems promising, and that’s where the trouble starts. . .

Questionable data and procedures are Robin’s problem with Cliff’s “successful” research. When she approaches Marion and Sandy with her concerns, she is rebuffed. And when she takes those concerns to a higher authority, all hell breaks loose in the lab community.

Intuition is, at its heart, about scientific discovery and its trials and tribulations. It is about the responsibilities of the researchers and the morality of the researchers. Several characters are tested in these areas, and they fail miserably.

I was engrossed in this story until the end. The end, I felt, was a bit of a disappointment, but it is probably more realistic than I would want to admit. Still, it’s a novel worth reading.

2/26/13