Carlton Gajdusek, eminent scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his revolutionary work on Kuru and prion diseases, was also a complex individual whose escapades led to a sulphurous reputation and a life of seclusion and disrepute. This book offers a detailed re-examination of C. Gajdusek's life, in order to gain a better understanding of the man behind the scandal, to better appreciate the complexity of his personality, and, in the form of a case study, to gain a more detailed understanding of this scientist of genius and the very special life he lived.