Genesis of the Salk Institute: The Epic of Its Founders - Hardcover

by Suzanne Bourgeois (Author)

This work is a personal account of the origins and early years of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Bourgeois crafts an engaging study that draws on her involvement with the Institute and on related archives, interviews, and informal conversations.

The volume discusses the people who founded the Institute and built a home for renowned research--leading scientists of the time as well as non-scientists of stature in finance, politics, philanthropy, publishing, and the humanities. The events that brought people together, the historic backdrop in which they worked, their personalities, their courage and their visions, their clash of egos and their personal vanities are woven together in a rich, engaging narrative about the founding of a world-premier research institution.

Front Jacket

Jonas Salk's passion to create a palace of scientific splendor was as strong as his passion to cure polio. In Genesis of the Salk Institute, Suzanne Bourgeois reveals the inside scoop on how Salk achieved the impossible--by enticing famous scientists (Crick, Monod, Dulbecco) and orchestrating a menage a trois involving a renowned architect (Louis Kahn), the city of San Diego (a gift of ocean-view land in La Jolla), and the March of Dimes (lots of vanishing money).--Joseph L. Goldstein, MD, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1985

The story of the founding of the Salk Institute is a fascinating tale, not without a good measure of intrigue. Indeed, it has all the qualities of a modern scientific melodrama: chance and the weight of circumstance, powerful personalities and the clashing of egos, the tension between personal priorities and national imperatives, Nobel laureates galore--it's all here. Suzanne Bourgeois, a fellow of the institute from the time of its founding, has produced a splendid, meticulously researched book that should be read by anyone interested in biomedical research or the history of science and medicine.--Russell Doolittle, University of California San Diego

Back Jacket

Jonas Salk's passion to create a palace of scientific splendor was as strong as his passion to cure polio. In Genesis of the Salk Institute, Suzanne Bourgeois reveals the inside scoop on how Salk achieved the impossible--by enticing famous scientists (Crick, Monod, Dulbecco) and orchestrating a menage a trois involving a renowned architect (Louis Kahn), the city of San Diego (a gift of ocean-view land in La Jolla), and the March of Dimes (lots of vanishing money).--Joseph L. Goldstein, MD, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1985

"The story of the founding of the Salk Institute is a fascinating tale, not without a good measure of intrigue. Indeed, it has all the qualities of a modern scientific melodrama: chance and the weight of circumstance, powerful personalities and the clashing of egos, the tension between personal priorities and national imperatives, Nobel laureates galore--it's all here. Suzanne Bourgeois, a fellow of the institute from the time of its founding, has produced a splendid, meticulously researched book that should be read by anyone interested in biomedical research or the history of science and medicine."--Russell Doolittle, University of California San Diego

Author Biography

Suzanne Bourgeois is Professor Emerita and Founding Director of the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute. She has published widely on gene regulation in numerous scientific journals.