Brave Genius, by Sean B. Carroll

One of my colleagues recommended this to me on the recommendation of her son (a pathology resident at the same institution as the author). This is the tale of two French Nobel prize winners (Albert Camus, literature and Jacques Monod, physiology or medicine) who were friends and who also served in the French resistance during World War 2. The first half of the book is about France during the war and the resistance; the second half of the book is about the postwar restoration of French society and the conflict between Communism and Western societies. While both are interesting, the battles that followed the war, both with weapons (e.g. Hungary) and in science (Lysenko), and how these guys, and others, slowed the influence of communism and non-rationalist ideas, are the treasures of this book. The positive influence these men had on their country and the world during the decades after the war is astounding (not to mention the crazy things they did as members of the French resistance). It's remarkable that I've read Camus, indeed one of his novels (The Plague) is one of the best books I've read and one of only a few I've read more than once, yet I didn't know a lick about his personal life. I've studied genetics as part of my medical training and learned about Monod's work in school, and didn't have an inkling about the extraordinary life he led outside the laboratory. This is a great read - something for many people here (World War 2, France, philosophy, science).