The Scientist Who Wasn't There by Joanne Briggs (ePub) (Nonfiction)
Author: Joanne Briggs
Publication Date: June 5, 2025
Category/Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, True Crime, Science History

The Scientist Who Wasn't There: A True Story of Staggering Deception is a riveting, genre-blending memoir and investigative account by Joanne Briggs, winner of the Bridport Prize for Memoir. The book unravels the extraordinary life and legacy of her father, Professor Michael Briggs—a man celebrated as a NASA space expert, World Health Organization adviser, and pharmaceutical executive, but who was ultimately exposed as the architect of a massive scientific fraud.

Briggs’s life and career were marked by accolades and high-profile achievements, but in 1986, a scandal erupted: research he conducted was revealed to be compromised, and patients claimed that a pregnancy test he pioneered (Primodos) had caused devastating birth defects. After his public disgrace, Michael Briggs died suddenly abroad, leaving behind a trail of publications, patents, and hundreds of alleged victims still seeking justice.