The Scientist Who Wasn't There: A true story of staggering deception

by Joanne Briggs

'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

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
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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

Published June 5, 2025

Reviews

[Kelly Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

”A forensic, propulsive book about the line between fact and fiction.” However, I wasn’t expecting a large chunk of this to be the author’s fictionalised account of her dad and his life.

The scandal is fascinating, it’s something I was completely unfamiliar with and therefore it made for such a compelling tale. I wonder if the author romanticises her father too much, and despite acknowledging his flaws and deceit still gives him far too much credit both scientifically and emotionally.

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was gifted by publisher with no review expected. Overall a 3.5 ⭐️. This was a really interesting memoir, on a topic I had no knowledge on previously. We follow a daughter’s investigation into the hidden life of her father from very personal experiences to social scandals affecting the lives of many women and children. This was really interesting to learn about from a scientific perspective and how controversies and scandals from the past have been covered up and are hard to unravel. Due to this, the memoir doesn’t come to a clean conclusion. I also found the writing sometimes too fictional, with the author diving into the mind of her deceased father. Overall though, definitely worth a read to learn more about this interesting scientist and the public scandals surrounding him

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book thinking that it might be a bit dry, but no it held me, I could not put it down.
In 1968 I was given Primodos to see if I was expecting a baby. I was.
The pain that was caused by the scientists that developed this drug is unbelievable.
Anyone interrested in this terrible drug and the people it damaged please look at the Primodos website. www.primodos.org

[Simon Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first half of this book but the second half incredibly tedious. It’s an interesting story but the writing style (particularly the “imagined” conversations and scenes) grated the more it progressed.

[Chloë]

a fascinating read

[Melanie]

DNF at 15%

[Rcolucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

[Brodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting story but didnt really enjoy her writing or the style lol