Superintelligent mice and monkeys; philosophers who are overly moralistic and therefore ignored; a strangely progressive pope who gives his blessing; neuroscientists who complain that they don't serve Swiss cheese on airplanes and who compete to throw the most swanky villa party to receive the most funding.
A single, grand goal: to "produce," after Japan, also for the US children with enhanced brains, otherwise—as the American president maintains—"if this continues, those yellow faces will beat us at baseball."
And an unexpected ending.
"Purely by Chance" is not a science fiction story like all the others. First, because it develops a story filled with such timely topics in such a linear, coherent, and concrete manner that it all seems real. Second, because it makes us reflect on the limits of our actions, on the boundaries we break down (or are broken down for us without telling us) every day for the first time, unaware of the consequences.
It's an unconventional reportage on a world—that of science and research—that we've grown accustomed to believing is the only light capable of showing us the way to the future, the obligatory and urgent path to progress and a better civilization.
Alberto Oliverio, a psychobiologist at Sapienza University, has given the world of readers a first book that's not "just for insiders," and which reads like a pamphlet with a cultured yet subtle and mocking tone. Recommended for those who want to step into the shoes of a scientist in today's world and immerse themselves in an entertaining and slightly fantastical story without turning off their brains.