Well, this was quite mediocre in style and I could not get to care about any of the stories. I had such high expectations knowing so many people adored this, but it simply failed to deliver anything beyond a basic, boring prose, occasional scientific discussions (even though I doubt they would not go over any non-science-y person's head) and there is also a high element of fiction to the biographies of these real scientists, which blurs the lines for what the book is supposed to be. I was very surprised to see this simplistic book winning a spot on the Booker International shortlist, since those books are always experimental and bring something new to the table.