Lab Lit Book Club

Real Life by Brandon Taylor.

Real Life is the story of Wallace, a graduate student in a nematode lab, who is working towards a Ph.D. in biochemistry. This critically-acclaimed novel is also about racism, homophobia, and underrepresented groups in STEM.

Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard.

Arcadia is about the science (and art) of reconstructing past events, and the perils of publishing before all the data are in. It was described, at its 1993 debut, as “Stoppard’s finest play in years” and was once nominated for the honor of “the best science book ever written.”

The Gold Bug Variations, by Richard Powers.

Powers’ novel is in part set in the mid-1950s (post Watson and Crick’s 1953 paper), in a lab aiming to unravel the DNA code.

The story also explores music, love, and the science of information retrieval in the 1980s, pre-internet.

The Devil’s Garden, by Edward Docx.

In this novel, a scientist studies ant behavior at a South American research station, but his work is backdropped by political upheaval.

Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier

This novel traces the friendship between Mary Anning (1799-1847), “the greatest fossil-hunter ever,” and her collaborator Elizabeth Philpot.

To the Edge of the World, by Harry Thompson.

This work of historical fiction presents an account of Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle. It was published in the UK as: This Thing of Darkness (UK).

The Glass Universe, by Dava Sobel.

The Glass Universe is a history of Harvard College Observatory, and “tells the fascinating story of a brilliant all-female team who helped to redraw the universe – and a woman’s place in it.” 

The Last Days of Night, by Graham Moore. 

The Last Days of Night is a work of historical fiction, set in the late 19^th century, and it tracks a legal battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over patent No. 223, 898—a patent for a light bulb. Nikola Tesla is another major character, and even Alexander Graham Bell makes an appearance.

When the Killing’s Done, by T. C. Boyle.

When the Killing’s Done is the story of Alma Boyd Takesue, a conservation biologist with the National Park Service, who organizes an effort to remove invasive species from the Channel Islands of California. But her work is vigorously opposed by an activist group, For the Protection of Animals, which objects to the killing of animals under all circumstances.

The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi. 

The Periodic Table is a memoir of Italian chemist and Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi, and was once voted “the best science book ever written” by a panel at London’s Royal Institution.

Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver.

“In Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel, ‘Flight Behavior,’ a central character is an entomologist tracking the effects of global climate change on monarch butterflies…There’s a love story, of course, and a coming-of-age story…But the take-away of this novel is that nature is off kilter, spinning out of control, changing before our very eyes.” – NY Times