Natural Obsessions

This classic work of science writing chronicles the search for the origins of cancer—with a new introduction by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author.

In Natural Obsessions, acclaimed science writer Natalie Angier holds a microscope up to the agony and ecstasy of scientific research. Angier spent close to a year observing the work of two prominent biologists—MIT's Robert Weinberg and Michael Wigler of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory—as they each doggedly pursue the mysteries of the cancer cell. Delving into the drama of scientific inquiry, Angier captures life inside the lab, opening a rare window into how scientists think, feel, and behave.


Originally published in 1988, this edition of Natural Obsessions includes a new introduction by Angier as well as a foreword by the physician, poet, and author Lewis Thomas.