Austin Taylor’s debut novel Notes on Infinity reads like a contemporary Greek tragedy wrapped in the gleaming veneer of biotech innovation. This ambitious work follows Harvard students Zoe Kyriakidis and Jack Leahy as they stumble into the intoxicating world of startup culture with what they believe is humanity’s greatest discovery: the cure for aging. What emerges is a devastating meditation on ambition, class, love, and the price of playing god with both science and truth.
The Genesis of Genius and Downfall
Taylor structures her narrative with biblical precision, dividing the novel into six parts that mirror humanity’s oldest stories of hubris and consequence. From “Genesis” through “The Fall” to “Judgment,” the architecture itself suggests the mythic scope of what unfolds. Zoe, daughter of an MIT professor, emerges from her brilliant brother’s shadow only to find herself trapped in an even darker one of her own making. Jack, scarred by poverty and abuse in rural Maine, sees in their partnership not just scientific breakthrough but his ticket to escape the crushing limitations of his past.
The novel’s opening scene places us in a Harvard dressing room where Zoe stares at her reflection, preparing for what should be her moment of triumph. But Taylor’s masterstroke is showing us immediately that this Zoe—the “after” Zoe—is fundamentally broken. The eyes staring back are those of “a lab rat you’ve just picked up by the tail,” establishing from the first pages that this story of scientific promise is really an autopsy of dreams gone wrong.
The Science of Storytelling
Taylor’s background in chemistry and English serves her well here. She weaves real scientific concepts—the Yamanaka factors, epigenetic theory, cellular aging—into prose that never feels didactic. The science isn’t window dressing but the beating heart of the narrative, driving both plot and character development. When Zoe develops her revolutionary theory about aging’s epigenetic basis, Taylor makes us feel the intoxicating rush of discovery. When Jack later manipulates data to maintain the illusion of progress, the scientific betrayal cuts deeper because we understand what’s being corrupted.
The author demonstrates remarkable expertise in depicting both academic research culture and the venture capital ecosystem. Her portrayal of Harvard’s chemistry department, complete with its hierarchies and politics, feels authentically lived-in. Similarly, her navigation of biotech funding rounds, board dynamics, and media hype reveals deep understanding of how scientific innovation gets commodified and sold.
Character Studies in Moral Complexity
Neither Zoe nor Jack emerges as simply victim or villain, which elevates this work beyond typical startup cautionary tales. Zoe’s privilege—her professor father, her MIT connections, her automatic assumption of academic success—creates blind spots that Jack both envies and exploits. Her genuine scientific brilliance becomes weaponized by a system that values hype over hypothesis. When she discovers Jack’s data manipulation, her horror stems not just from betrayal but from recognizing her own complicity in constructing the lie.
Jack’s character arc proves even more devastating. Taylor traces his journey from poverty to Harvard with unflinching clarity, showing how his background becomes both motivation and liability. His data manipulation isn’t mere fraud but a desperate attempt to make reality match the promises that his partner’s theory seemed to offer. The novel’s most heartbreaking insight is that Jack’s love for Zoe becomes inseparable from his need to prove himself worthy of her world.
The Weight of Words
Taylor’s prose style deserves particular praise for its emotional precision and tonal range. She can shift seamlessly from the technical language of grant proposals to the intimate vulnerability of two young people falling in love under Maine stars. Her dialogue crackles with authenticity, capturing how brilliant twenty-somethings actually speak—a mix of intellectual confidence and emotional uncertainty.
The novel’s use of media coverage and public documents creates a Greek chorus effect, showing how external perception shapes internal reality. Taylor includes everything from Vogue profiles to hostile online comments, building a comprehensive portrait of how fame can become a trap. These documents also provide structural variety, breaking up longer narrative sections while advancing the story through multiple perspectives.
Where Science Meets Soul
What distinguishes Notes on Infinity from other works exploring scientific ethics is its refusal to treat technology as inherently evil or good. The anti-aging research itself remains scientifically plausible and morally defensible. The corruption comes not from the science but from the human systems built around it—the pressure for quick results, the need for constant funding, the seduction of celebrity.
Taylor also explores themes of class and access with surprising nuance. Jack’s rural Maine background isn’t romanticized or demonized but presented as a complex reality that shapes his worldview. His relationship with Zoe becomes a study in how economic inequality affects even the most intimate connections. The novel suggests that meritocracy itself can become a form of mythology when it ignores the structural advantages that make “merit” possible.
Minor Criticisms in a Major Work
While Notes on Infinity succeeds brilliantly in most areas, some elements feel less fully developed. The supporting characters, particularly Carter Gray and Alex Kyriakidis, occasionally function more as plot devices than fully realized people. The novel’s middle section, chronicling the company’s rapid rise, sometimes rushes through developments that could benefit from deeper exploration.
Additionally, while Taylor handles the scientific aspects expertly, some readers may find the technical details overwhelming, particularly during the early laboratory scenes. However, these moments of density serve the larger narrative by showing how easily complex science can be oversimplified for public consumption.
The Tragedy of Modern Prometheus
The novel’s final act, centered on Jack’s suicide and Zoe’s trial, achieves genuine tragic power. Taylor refuses easy redemption or clear moral resolution. Zoe’s acquittal feels less like justice than like another failure of systems to grapple with complex truth. The epilogue, featuring a young researcher reaching out to the disgraced Zoe, suggests that the cycle of ambition and discovery continues, unmarked by previous tragedies.
Literary Echoes and Contemporary Relevance
Notes on Infinity joins the ranks of contemporary fiction exploring scientific ethics, alongside works like Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go and Richard Powers’ Playground. However, Taylor’s focus on startup culture and biotech hype makes her work particularly relevant to current discussions about scientific integrity and technological promise.
Readers who enjoyed Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad or Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life will find similar emotional complexity and structural innovation here. The novel also resonates with recent non-fiction exposés of startup culture, offering fictional insight into psychological territories that journalism can only map from outside.
Similar Reading Recommendations
For readers captivated by Notes on Infinity, consider these complementary works:
- Bad Blood by John Carreyrou – The non-fiction account of Theranos that inspired countless startup cautionary tales
- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin – Another novel exploring the human desire to cheat death
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro – Science fiction examining artificial intelligence and human connection
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt – A campus novel about brilliant students whose ambitions lead to moral corruption
Final Verdict
Notes on Infinity announces Austin Taylor as a major new voice in contemporary literature. This is a novel that trusts its readers’ intelligence while never sacrificing emotional impact for intellectual complexity. Taylor has crafted a work that functions simultaneously as campus novel, startup thriller, and tragic love story, succeeding brilliantly at all three.
Most impressively, the novel avoids the easy cynicism that often accompanies stories of corporate corruption. Instead, Taylor shows how good intentions and genuine love can become complicit in creating devastating harm. The result is a book that feels both timely and timeless, grounded in contemporary concerns but animated by ancient questions about human nature and moral responsibility.
At just over 400 pages, Notes on Infinity packs remarkable density without ever feeling rushed or overstuffed. It’s the rare debut that announces not just a promising new writer but a mature artistic vision. In an era of increasing skepticism about technological promises and scientific integrity, Taylor has created a work that illuminates without preaching, challenges without condemning, and ultimately affirms the enduring power of both science and storytelling to help us understand what it means to be human.
