"We used to joke that this guy was either going to Stockholm or going to jail." Jan Hendrik Sch?n never won a Nobel prize. In September of 2002, one month before the winners are announced, Jan Hendrik Sch?n is fired from his job. A little less than two years later, he'll lose his Ph.D.

Lucky breaks. Right place at the right time. Astonishing progress. Unprecedented publishing rate. The world's top scientific journals and experts, including Nobel Prize-Winners, supporting him.

A shining beacon amidst a financial collapse. It all seemed too good to be true. Then one day, someone stopped to ask if it was.