Barry Barish Interviews Brian Keating: Part 2 ​(#194)

In February 2021 Dr. Barry Barish, co-recipient of the 2017 Nobel
Prize in Physics for the LIGO experiment, interviewed me at his
home in Los Angeles. The topic was his thoughts and reactions to my
book, Losing the Nobel Prize (http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA). We discussed
scientific leadership, academic stress, burnout, the role of
mentors and managers in science and a lot about my book too. Losing
The Nobel Prize By Brian Keating The inside story of a quest to
unlock one of cosmology’s biggest mysteries, derailed by the lure
of the Nobel Prize. What would it have been like to be an
eyewitness to the Big Bang? In 2014, astronomers wielding BICEP2,
the most powerful cosmology telescope ever made, revealed that
they’d glimpsed the spark that ignited the Big Bang. Millions
around the world tuned in to the announcement broadcast live from
Harvard University, immediately igniting rumors of an imminent
Nobel Prize. But had these cosmologists truly read the cosmic
prologue or, swept up in Nobel dreams, had they been deceived by a
galactic mirage? In Losing the Nobel Prize, cosmologist and
inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic
Polarization) experiment Brian Keating tells the inside story of
BICEP2’s mesmerizing discovery and the scientific drama that
ensued. In an adventure story that spans the globe from Rhode
Island to the South Pole, from California to Chile, Keating takes
us on a personal journey of revelation and discovery, bringing to
vivid life the highly competitive, take-no-prisoners,
publish-or-perish world of modern science. Along the way, he
provocatively argues that the Nobel Prize, instead of advancing
scientific progress, may actually hamper it, encouraging speed and
greed while punishing collaboration and bold innovation. In a
thoughtful reappraisal of the wishes of Alfred Nobel, Keating
offers practical solutions for reforming the prize, providing a
vision of a scientific future in which cosmologists may, finally,
be able to see all the way back to the very beginning. Audible is
hands-down my favorite platform for consuming podcasts, fiction and
nonfiction books! With an Audible membership, you can download
titles and listen offline, anytime, anywhere. The Audible app is
free and can be installed on all smartphones and tablets. You can
listen across devices without losing your spot. Audible members
don’t have to worry about using their credits right away. You
can keep your credits for up to a year—and use them to binge on a
whole series if you’d like! And if you’re not loving your
selection, you can simply swap it for another. Start your free
30-day trial today:  Audible.com/impossible or text
“impossible” to 500-500 Please contact sales@advertisecast.com to
learn more about sponsoring Into the Impossible. Learn more about
your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices