44 memoirs by scientists

In my article announcing my move in January 2022 into scientific research, I shared how in the early 2010s I began collecting memoirs authored by scientists. At the time, I struggled to find a good list or compilation to guide my reading, so I began creating one myself.

Unlike biographies, written by third parties many years after the fact, I found memoirs to be a more intimate window into the struggles, setbacks and discoveries of scientists. While I found myself in the trenches of a technology startup, the stories of these scientists gave me hope and energy to carry on.

If you’ve read any other scientist memoirs that I have yet to come across, please share in the comments below!

My collection of memoirs by scientists

Biology, Chemistry

Carl Djerassi, chemist most known for his contributions to the development of oral contraceptive pills.

1. How to Win the Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science by Bishop, J. Michael
2. My Life in Science by Brenner, Sydney
3. An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist by Dawkins, Richard
4. A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution by Doudna, Jennifer A.
5. Lab Girl by Jahren, Hope
6. Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome by Ramakrishnan, Venki
7. A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life by Venter, J. Craig The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by Watson, James D. Letters to a Young Scientist by Wilson, Edward O.
8. The Dance of Life: The New Science of How a Single Cell Becomes a Human Being by Zernicka-Goetz, Magdalena
9. The Pill, Pygmy Chimps, and Degas’ Horse: The Remarkable Autobiography of the Award-Winning Scientist Who Synthesized the Birth Control Pill by Djerassi, Carl
10. Of Flies, Mice and Men by Jacob, François
11. La Sculpture Du Vivant: Le Suicide Cellulaire Ou La Mort Créatrice by Ameisen, Jean-Claude

Mathematics

Benoit Mandelbrot made contributions to many fields, but is known for his research on randomness and fractals.

1. Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality by Frenkel, Edward
2. A Mathematician’s Apology by Hardy, G. H.
3. The Fractalist: Memoir of a Scientific Maverick by Mandelbrot, Benoît B.
4. Adventures of a Mathematician by Ulam, Stanislaw M.
5. Théorème vivant by Villani, Cédric Théorème vivant by Villani, Cédric
6. I Am a Mathematician by Wiener, Norbert

Medicine

Stanley Prusiner demonstrated the existence of prions, the source of many neurodegenerative diseases.

1. Changing patterns: an atypical autobiography by Burnet, Frank Macfarlane
2. The Story Of Interferon: The Ups And Downs In The Life Of A Scientist by Cantell, Kari
3. The Beginner’s Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize: Advice for Young Scientists by Doherty, Peter C.
4. In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Kandel, Eric R.
5. Advice To A Young Scientist by Medawar, Peter
6. Surgery of the Soul: Reflections on a Curious Career by Murray, Joseph E.
7. Madness and Memory:The Discovery of Prions — A New Biological Principle of Disease by Prusiner, Stanley B.
8. Advice for a Young Investigator by Ramón y Cajal, Santiago
9. Love and Science: A Memoir by Vilcek, Jan
10. Chance and Design: Reminiscences of Science in Peace and War, by Hodkin, Alan

Physics

Charles Townes discovered the phenomenon of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission which led to the development of lasers.

1. A Matter of Choices: Memoirs of a Female Physicist by Ajzenberg-Selove, Fay
2. Madame Curie A biography of Marie Curie by Eve Curie by Curie, Ève
3. Pierre Curie: With Autobiographical Notes by Marie Curie by Curie, Marie
4. Pierre Curie by Curie, Marie Disturbing the Universe by Dyson, Freeman
5. Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend by Feyerabend, Paul Karl
6. “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character by Feynman, Richard
7. What Little I Remember by Frisch, Otto Robert
8. My World Line: An Informal Autobiography by Gamow, George
9. Alfred Wegener: Science, Exploration, and the Theory of Continental Drift by Greene, Mott T.
10. The Periodic Table by Levi, Primo
11. How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space by Levin, Janna
12. The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir by Seager, Sara *
13. How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist by Townes, Charles H.
14. The First Nuclear Era: The Life and Times of Nuclear Fixer by Weinberg, Alvin M.
15. Geons, Black Holes and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics by Wheeler, John Archibald Tabibito by Yukawa, Hideki

Engineering

Buckminster Fuller transcended fields, but is most known for his invention of the geodesic dome.

1. Guinea Pig B: The 56 Year Experiment by Fuller, R. Buckminster
2. Wind and Beyond by Karman, Theodore von