No Ordinary Mike

Michael Smith, Nobel Laureate

by Eric Damer & Caroline Astell

tagged: science & technology, radiology & nuclear medicine, genetics & genomics

Description

The extraordinary story of Michael Smith, a man who rose from humble beginnings in Blackpool, England, to become a revolutionary gene researcher, philanthropist and Nobel Prize winner. A professor at the University of British Columbia, Smith dedicated his talent and energy to science research, and later launched the university's internationally regarded Biotechnology Laboratory. The authors present not only the career and science of a great Canadian scientist, but also the politics and personalities of university research.

About the Authors

Eric Damer is a lifelong British Columbian born in Victoria, raised in Kamloops, and currently residing in Burnaby. After studying philosophy at the University of Victoria, he became interested in the educational forces that had shaped his own life. He completed masters and doctoral degrees in educational studies at the University of British Columbia with a particular interest in the history of adult and higher education in the province. Discovery by Design and No Ordinary Mike complement his earlier work on the history of UBC and contributes to a better understanding of how the university has helped to shape – and has been shaped by – life in the pacific province.

Caroline Astell, now Professor Emerita of Biochemistry, knew Michael Smith for 35 years, first working with him for her PhD and then as a research colleague. In 2002, she joined the BC Cancer Agency's Genome Science Centre and was on the team that decoded the SARS genome.

Age:: 15
Grade:: 10

Editorial Reviews

“the book is strong on university politics and rich in anecdotes and personal reminiscences” — Ambix: The Journal of the Society for Alchemy and Chemistry

“I welcome the publication of this biography of Michael Smith, an extraordinary Canadian who won the Nobel Prize for his research into the mysteries of the gene, and who went on to make Canada a world leader in biotechnology and genome research.”—Martha C. Piper, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of British Columbia

“The book is strong on university politics and rich in anecdotes and personal reminiscences.”—Ambix: The Journal of the Society for Alchemy and Chemistry

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Librarian review

No Ordinary Mike: Michael Smith, Nobel Laureate

by [ABPBC]

This biography of Michael Smith, the University of British Columbia professor who received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, begins with Smith’s education in the UK during World War II and his recruitment to UBC in 1956. It traces Smith’s research career in biochemistry and molecular biology, in establishing the UBC Biotechnology Laboratory, and helping launch Canada’s Genome Sequencing Centre, up to his untimely death in 2000. In addition to revealing the personality and characteristics of a great scientific intelligence, this biography also illustrates the interplay of university politics and demonstrates the import of public and private scientific funding to research.

Eric Damer is the author of Discovery by Design. Caroline Astell was a research colleague of Michael Smith.

Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2006-2007.