Losing the Nobel Prize Quotes

“No scientist gets to Stockholm alone.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“Dream interpreters are widely available in person and online. Worst of all, your local newspaper likely has far more space dedicated to astrology than to astronomy.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“Yet the two-year congressional budget cycle is punishing young scientists, and they are abandoning science, ultimately depriving mankind of the benefits of their bright young minds.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“A recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences written by Ronald Daniels, the president of Johns Hopkins University, found that the average age of a first-time recipient of a nationally funded grant has increased from under thirty-eight in 1980 to over forty-five as of 2013.20 More disturbingly, the fraction of first-time recipients aged thirty-six or younger has plummeted from 18% in 1983 to 3% in 2010.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“In an ideal world, scientists could practice their craft without regard to politics. But in reality, big science takes big bucks. No university can support the large, experimental projects that are required to detect new forces and new particles. Only federal agencies like the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation have the resources. Sadly, federal funding for science has been in decline; it is at its lowest level since Eisenhower was president.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“And, since past Nobel Prize winners are automatically invited to nominate future winners, their protégés receive the ultimate job perk: they are far more likely to become laureates than those who were not mentored by laureates.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“Battle is an apt metaphor for what we scientists do. There is a fierce competition that begins the day you declare yourself a physics major. First, among your fellow undergraduates, you spar for top ranking in your class. This leads to the next battle: becoming a graduate student at a top school. Then, you toil for six to eight years to earn a postdoc job at another top school. And finally, you hope, comes a coveted faculty job, which can become permanent if you are privileged enough to get tenure. Along the way, the number of peers in your group diminishes by a factor of ten at each stage, from hundreds of undergraduates to just one faculty job becoming available every few years in your field. Then the competition really begins, for you compete against fellow gladiators honed in battle just as you are. You compete for the scarcest resource in science: money.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“Battle is an apt metaphor for what we scientists do. There is a fierce competition that begins the day you declare yourself a physics major. First, among your fellow undergraduates, you spar for top ranking in your class. This leads to the next battle: becoming a graduate student at a top school. Then, you toil for six to eight years to earn a postdoc job at another top school. And finally, you hope, comes a coveted faculty job, which can become permanent if you are privileged enough to get tenure. Along the way, the number of peers in your group diminishes by a factor of ten at each stage, from hundreds of undergraduates to just one faculty job becoming available every few years in your field.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor

“We’ve all wondered: what if I could go back in time? What would I do differently? What if the things I did differently made my life worse instead? For now, traveling backward in time is impossible. Maybe that’s a good thing; it’s hard enough living life going forward.”
― Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor