Once Upon a Time in the West

Sep 22, 2024 4:46 AM

Author:Lorna Siggins

'All I want is to stay where I am . . . My heart and soul are in this place.'

(Willie Corduff, one of The Rossport Five)

In a remote, beautiful part of the west of Ireland, a David and Goliath struggle rages between multinational oil company, Shell, and some of the local community of Rossport, County Mayo.

In 1996, Enterprise Oil, subsequently bought by Shell, found a major source of valuable gas offshore in the Corrib gas field. In the attempt to build an onshore pipeline and refinery the oil giant has come into conflict with a small group of locals who, anxious about the safety of their families, the environmental impact of the project and the future of their community, are resisting Shell's plans. The eyes of the nation fell on this tiny community when, in 2005, five of the residents were jailed for refusing to allow Shell onto their land, in contempt of court orders. These men have become known as The Rossport Five.

Irish Times correspondent Lorna Siggins has been covering the controversy from the beginning. No one is better placed to unravel the twists and turns of this fascinating human drama and its political, cultural and environmental shockwaves.

In a new Ireland where economic logic goes largely unchallenged, the Corrib Gas pipeline controversy raises uncomfortable questions about the ways in which Ireland has changed.

Reviews

Uncommonly brilliant and deeply stimulating... almost cinematically satisfying. Harman has a rare gift for bringing ideas and thinkers to life

—— Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of the New Republic

A brilliant biography of a brilliant man. A powerful page-turner that vividly renders the obsessive absorption with the poles of cooperation and competition in nature

—— Daniel Kevles, Stanley Woodward Professor of History at Yale University

I stayed up a good part of the night reading... fascinating! ... Harman proves that the lives of some modern scientists are as ecstatic, tormented and filled with strange visions as those of medieval saints

—— Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

A terrific book, at once scholarly and impossible to put down

—— Peter Godfrey-Smith, professor of philosophy at Harvard University

Beautifully written, Harman's book does justice both to its sensitive subject matter and to the life of a very special, complex and ultimately tragic man.

—— Waterstone's Books Quarterly

A masterfully told story that edifies while it engages, this book is in the same class as Sylvia Nasar's A Beautiful Mind and could be as popular.

—— American Library Journal

Oren Harman's compelling new book explores one of the key questions of our era - what are the origins of altruism? A little known mathematician lies at the heart of the story. George Price recognised that acts of kindness and self-sacrifice stood blatantly opposed to most of the principles of modern Darwinism. Harman's wide-ranging intellectual quest brings this shy, anguished, and fascinating man alive with style and passion, and reminds us of the powerful emotions that can fuel great scientific achievement.

—— Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin

One of the great mysteries of nature is how evolution, as it selects for survival of the fittest, could possibly leave any room for altruism. In this remarkable book, Oren Harman tracks George Price, an awkward, disturbed, and profoundly, almost saintly scientist as he cracked this fundamental biological problem. It is an astonishing story at every level, from the destitute wanderings and genial interventions of Price to a revealing account of how modern evolutionary biology took its contemporary form.

—— Professor Peter Galison

striking and original

—— John Carey , The Sunday Times

a challenging book...full of complex and deeply interesting ideas

—— Sam Leith , Spectator

A fascinating trawl through the borderland where science and society intertwine

—— Doug Johnstone , The Big Issue

The Price of Altruism puts Price's work into a wide scientific and social context, showing real insight into its importance and genuine sympathy for the tale of his life

—— Steve Jones , New Scientist

Oren Harman's outstanding new biography of the American scientist George Price makes the case that Price's theoretical contributions to biology are among the most important of the twentieth century...Price was undoubtedly an opaque figure; Harman has approached his life with sensitivity and intelligence, providing a clearer window into this troubled mind

—— Tom Bailey , TLS

Moving biography exploring a geneticst's understanding of human selflessness

—— The Times

An energetic tale that presents not only the science but the history and politics which produced it

—— Islington Tribune

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