Description:
What drives science forward--ruthless competition, altruistic cooperation, or a bizarre amalgam of our highest and lowest aspirations? Some insight can be found in the search for the cause of AIDS, a scientific struggle in which the personalities and problems involved are equally dramatic. The Pasteur Institute's Luc Montagnier, one of the leading lights in the long fight against AIDS, tells his story and looks to the future in Virus, a combination scientific detective story and memoir. From his childhood in war-torn France to his dogged pursuit of HIV (or LAV, as he called it), he shows the passions and obstacles that guided him to his present position as one of the foremost experts on the virus and syndrome that continues to devastate the world. Montagnier writes of his fabled rivalry with American researcher Robert Gallo, and the often-frustrating difficulties he faced in contributing to the global conversation about the then-mysterious killer AIDS. The competition has mellowed a bit now that the author has finally been given his due by the scientific establishment. Much of his book is devoted to explaining what we know about HIV and AIDS and what we can expect to see in the near future, using language that is clear, precise, and engaging. Readers come away from Virus with the sense that ultimately scientists are more interested in doing good than in getting ahead, and that we are better served by keeping things that way. --Rob Lightner
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