What a fantastic read.

I must confess, I did not know about Katalin Karikó before reading this book. I actually acquired that book based on a blog¹ I follow.

She made the news though, big time! 2023 Nobel co-winner and holder of many honorary degrees, featured on many world renowned media outlets, she contributed so much in us having access to an effective COVID-19 vaccine.

When you read this book however, it’s less the breakthroughs that stand out and more the perseverance, the unsatiable curiosity, that desire to learn, to understand, to discover the laws of life. Her life is an ode to scientifiy discoveries. We stand on the shoulders of giants as she says.

Scientific inquiry is a puzzle that never stops changing. Each new piece snaps into place changes the puzzle itself opening entire new realms into which the puzzle grows… we stand on the shoulders of giants.

And yet, her life is a testimonial that this is not reserved to a specific breed or class of people. She admits eagerly that her health and her abilities were not obviously leading her to such a path. As a child, she missed many school days because of her poor health. And when she was at school, she quickly realized that she did not have the same abilities as others. Whereas others would be spoiled with a snapshot memory, she had to put in the work. But she learned that what she lacked in ability, she could make up in effort, working harder, with greater care, more hours. As she says, the brain is malleable, so she practiced studying, deliberately. School then became more natural. She never stopped practicing.

It’s about science but more than that, it’s about an intrepid human, whose curiosity is never satisfied. From growing up in the then comunist Hungary, we follow her until her breakthrough, the discovery along with Drew Weissman about how to engineer mRNA so that it can be used to produce desired proteins after being introduced into mammalian cells. In-between, well there’s life, many stories, how she met her lifelong love, left Hungary as a family with a toddler daughter, got supported, faced what seems to be unfair systems, grief, births.

She mentions a book that made a great impact. In the Stress of Life. A book she loved from high school that taught her to not blame, focus on what you can controland transform bad stress into good stress. I’m curious if this book is still available and relevant?

I learned, at least one, new word with this book: schmoozing.

What I liked really much was that I listened to this book. That’s first time I buy a book on Libro.fm. The narrator, Eva Magyar, made my experience a great time. Lovely accent, I sped up the pace just a tad bit, the iOS app user interface is top notch too, just loved it.