Roger Osborne: The Deprat Affair

Pimlico

$35

By 1917, Jacques Deprat was head of the French colonial geological service based in Hanoi.

He was in the front rank of French geologists, having successfully navigated his way from lowly beginnings through and, seemingly, past the hurdles to advancement that stultified French society.

Yet only days after the Societe Geologique in Paris had yet again lauded his achievements, he was accused of scientific fraud and his career was dead.

This wonderful book is full of the excitement of scientific discovery.

Was Deprat guilty? Osborne's investigation became an attempt simply to understand and he remarks how uneasily understanding and condemnation sit together.