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Joram Piatigorsky, an award-winning scientific researcher, established the Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology in the National Eye Institute in 1981 and was its Chief until 2009, when he became an Emeritus Scientist. He has published extensively on eye research, gene expression and evolution, lectured worldwide, participated in national and international advisory and research funding panels, and trained a generation of scientists in eye research. He is presently on the Board of Directors of the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland and focusing on writing.
Jellyfish Have Eyes, a novel, combines Piatigorsky’s scientific knowledge and story-telling imagination to delve into the conflicts and ensuing difficulties of a creative basic scientist in a society insisting on goal-oriented medical research. This character-driven novel has unexpected twists revealing the importance of chance and societal pressures in shaping destiny. Jellyfish Have Eyes is written for a diverse audience concerned with creativity, moral responsibility, and those simply wanting a good and thoughtful read.
Here’s what readers are saying about Jellyfish Have Eyes:
In this original and provocative combination of science and fiction, Joram Piatigorsky brings to life evidence of Dr. Johnson’s observation that Truth can be made more accessible when draped in the robes of Fiction.
Warren Poland, MD, Psychoanalyst, Author of Melting the Darkness
In this rich dystopian novel Ricardo Sztein risks all to follow his intellectual curiosity in defiance of the extreme utilitarianism of his society. The spiritual cousin of Dickens’ “Hard Times”, with a nod to Big Brother, “Jellyfish” projects our current pragmatism into a frightening but possible future. A wonderful book for those who love creativity, science and the great gifts of serendipity.
Barbara Esstman, Author of The Other Anna and Night Ride Home
This novel draws you into its web of complex circumstances by degrees, unfolding like a kind of scientific experiment; it unravels the entire research and scientific community— challenges the tenets of evolution, knowledge, being and believing. The unity of knowledge, knowledge itself, is turned upside down. Ricardo Sztein is ununforgettable character, and this story is definitely a winner.
Robert Bausch, Author of A Hole in the Earth, and Far as the Eye Can See.
In the author’s brilliant first novel, we travel into a tropical lagoon with Dr. Ricardo Sztein, a maverick scientist who is mesmerized by jellyfish. This fast-paced adventure is partly about Dr. Sztein’s unusual and fascinating discoveries as he studies his beloved jellyfish. It also raises compelling questions about whether originality and creativity in research are valued or demonized by our government and academia.
Stanton Samenow, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, Author of Inside the Criminal Mind
This highly original story of jellyfish is fascinating and delightful. We travel to a warm mangrove swamp near Puerto Rico with Dr. Ricardo Sztein, who discovers that these fish store evolutionary memories. Troubles abound when his studies are revealed, but the adventures of this quirky, endearing scientist are memorable.
Ann L. McLaughlin, Author of Amy & George
The time is the near future when an economically stressed government threatens academic freedom of basic scientists. In “Jellyfish Have Eyes” an award-winning scientist pays a heavy price for his breakthrough discoveries that jellyfish interact and visualize evolution. Piatigorsky’s imaginative account of Dr. Ricardo Sztein’s path from discovery to condemnation gives a chilling warning that is sure to stimulate debate on the role of government in dictating the direction of scientific research.
Joseph Horwitz, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, UCLA School of Medicine