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Notes on Infinity
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Overview
A Zibby Owens "Summer Read" * A Jordy's Book Club "Most Anticipated Book of 2025" * An Oprah Daily "Best Summer Reads"
"It stole my breath and my heart. It's a grand story of science and startups, and a simple story of first love and belonging." ―Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark and We Begin at the End A singular, extraordinary debut about Zoe and Jack, Harvard students who find themselves propelled into the intoxicating biotech startup world when they announce they've discovered the cure for aging. A different kind of love story where the thirst for achievement consumes and the stakes are forever. Zoe, the daughter of an MIT professor who grew up in her brother's shadow, can envision her future anew at Harvard. Jack, a boy in Zoe's organic chemistry class with unruly hair and a gleam of competitiveness, matches her intellect and curiosity with every breath. When Jack refers Zoe for a position in a prestigious professor's lab, the two become entwined as colleagues, staying up late to discuss scientific ideas. They find themselves on the cusp of a breakthrough: the promise of immortality through a novel antiaging drug. Zoe and Jack set off on their new project in secret. Finding encouraging results, they bring their work to an investor, drop out of Harvard, and form a startup. But after the money, the magazine covers, and the national news stories detailing their success, Zoe and Jack receive a startling accusation that threatens to destroy both the company they built and their partnership. A captivating novel about young love, the allure of immortality, and the recklessness that can come with early success, Notes on Infinity asks: How far would you go to achieve your dreams?Customers Also Bought
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9781250376107
- ISBN-10: 1250376106
- Publisher: Celadon Books
- Publish Date: June 2025
- Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.05 pounds
- Page Count: 400
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In Austin Taylor’s commanding debut, two Harvard students pursue love and an all-consuming quest to be extraordinary. This insightful and zeitgeisty novel follows Zoe Kyriakidis and Jack Leahy, who are just sophomores when they team up on an inventive research project, one that spins into the most ambitious biotech startup ever. Nerdy, brilliant and thirsting for greatness, Zoe and Jack are undeniably drawn to each other, but it’s unclear if they’re meant to be partners in life, work or both. Their relationship and their research develop hand in hand, and things quickly get messy, exposing the fault lines of modern startup culture.
The daughter of a renowned MIT physicist, Zoe is a gifted theorist and the source of the startup’s big idea: a cure for aging. She’s a complex and original character, defensive about being seen as just “a woman in STEM,” and out to prove to her brilliant family that she’s special in her own right. To Jack, a working-class boy from rural Maine with zero connections, Zoe might as well be royalty—and way beyond his reach. He takes charge of executing Zoe’s vision, and despite starting out as “a terrible conversationalist” who “had holes in his socks, and needed a haircut,” he’s able to conjure the resources they need.
Soon, investors are opening their coffers and lining up to fund their dreams. Notes on Infinity begins as an intriguing slow burn, closely attending to the interpersonal dynamics and romantic couplings and uncouplings of not only its two protagonists but also Carter, Jack’s wealthy roommate; and Divya, whose father is a venture capitalist who provides the initial seed money. But the novel really picks up speed when the business, named Manna (as in manna from heaven), takes off, and Zoe and Jack drop out to pursue bigger money for their revolutionary breakthrough technology.
With echoes of recent real life scientific scandals—Theranos comes to mind—Notes on Infinity delivers an incisive exploration of a cutthroat contemporary culture that’s produced some spectacular scams. Taylor's vividly observed, often beautifully wrought close third-person storytelling lets readers in on the emotional lives of her protagonists. A Harvard graduate herself, she peers hard at gender politics and class insecurity amid the hothouse culture of elite academia in this more cutting cousin to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Startup Wife.
In Austin Taylor’s commanding debut, two Harvard students pursue love and an all-consuming quest to be extraordinary. This insightful and zeitgeisty novel follows Zoe Kyriakidis and Jack Leahy, who are just sophomores when they team up on an inventive research project, one that spins into the most ambitious biotech startup ever. Nerdy, brilliant and thirsting for greatness, Zoe and Jack are undeniably drawn to each other, but it’s unclear if they’re meant to be partners in life, work or both. Their relationship and their research develop hand in hand, and things quickly get messy, exposing the fault lines of modern startup culture.
The daughter of a renowned MIT physicist, Zoe is a gifted theorist and the source of the startup’s big idea: a cure for aging. She’s a complex and original character, defensive about being seen as just “a woman in STEM,” and out to prove to her brilliant family that she’s special in her own right. To Jack, a working-class boy from rural Maine with zero connections, Zoe might as well be royalty—and way beyond his reach. He takes charge of executing Zoe’s vision, and despite starting out as “a terrible conversationalist” who “had holes in his socks, and needed a haircut,” he’s able to conjure the resources they need.
Soon, investors are opening their coffers and lining up to fund their dreams. Notes on Infinity begins as an intriguing slow burn, closely attending to the interpersonal dynamics and romantic couplings and uncouplings of not only its two protagonists but also Carter, Jack’s wealthy roommate; and Divya, whose father is a venture capitalist who provides the initial seed money. But the novel really picks up speed when the business, named Manna (as in manna from heaven), takes off, and Zoe and Jack drop out to pursue bigger money for their revolutionary breakthrough technology.
With echoes of recent real life scientific scandals—Theranos comes to mind—Notes on Infinity delivers an incisive exploration of a cutthroat contemporary culture that’s produced some spectacular scams. Taylor's vividly observed, often beautifully wrought close third-person storytelling lets readers in on the emotional lives of her protagonists. A Harvard graduate herself, she peers hard at gender politics and class insecurity amid the hothouse culture of elite academia in this more cutting cousin to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Startup Wife.