The Scientist Who Wasn't There

A true story of staggering deception

By: Joanne Briggs

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Paperback | 1 July 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
288 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.3 x 15.4

Paperback

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What would you do to find out the truth about someone you love? A forensic, propulsive book about the line between fact and fiction.

WINNER OF THE BRIDPORT PRIZE FOR MEMOIR

What would you do to find out the truth about someone you love? A forensic, propulsive book about the line between fact and fiction.

Renowned scientist Professor Michael Briggs was many things:
A Space expert at NASA
An adviser to the World Health Organisation
A successful Big Pharma executive

But Michael Briggs had a secret.

A scandal broke out in 1986 when research he conducted was revealed to be compromised. Patients were also claiming that a pregnancy test he pioneered had caused devastating birth defects. Soon after his fall from grace, Briggs was dead, struck down by a mystery illness in a foreign country

Briggs left behind a long list of publications, patents, and inventions. But he also left behind hundreds of people who believe they are victims of his negligence and who are still fighting for justice to this day.

And he left someone else: his daughter, Joanne. After decades of wondering who her father really was, Joanne decided to investigate for herself. In hypnotic prose, she uncovers the secret that shaped her father's entire life and made his story more fantastic than any science fiction. As she discovered, Briggs's greatest invention was himself.

About the Author

Joanne's debut book, The Scientist Who Wasn't There, was awarded the first Bridport Prize for memoir in April 2023. She was a barrister for many years and has continued to work in other legal roles, in a career spanning nearly four decades. She lives in Sussex.

Industry Reviews

'A page-turner with a mystery to solve, and a meditation on what it means for a child to know their parents' - Cathy Rentzenbrink
'An exceptional, entirely unpredictable, real-life thriller' - Michael Mansfield

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