Questions About Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World

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I wonder something about this book. If you decide to write a book about someone, do you have to ask for permission? If so, does Hendrick Schön allow the author Eugenie S. Reich to publish this book?

Daniel In general the answer to your first question is no. You do not need someone's permission to write a biography about them. However, if you do obtain th…moreIn general the answer to your first question is no. You do not need someone's permission to write a biography about them. However, if you do obtain their permission, you can call it an authorized biography. If you write a biography about yourself, it's an autobiography.

If you write a biography and your subject doesn't like it, they might sue you for libel. Whether they win depends on how harmful and false your claims about the subject are, and on the legal climate in the jurisdiction.

I know nothing about your second question. The Wikipedia article for this book says the author relied on interviews with 126 scientists. Given the high-profile nature of Schön's fraud, an extensive public record exists. How Schön feels about this book is likely irrelevant.

See the English Wikipedia articles for: Biography, Plastic Fantastic, and Polemic. There are many books that document the missteps of other people, or attack their ideas. (less)

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