Notes on Infinity: A Novel

by Austin Taylor

Overview

"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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250376107
Publisher:	Celadon Books
Publication date:	06/03/2025
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.55(w) x 9.55(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Austin Taylor graduated from Harvard University in 2021 with a joint degree in chemistry and English. Notes on Infinity is inspired in part by her undergraduate studies, peers, and lab work in Harvard’s chemistry department. She has also worked as a public speaking coach and in science policy. Austin is a private pilot, a registered Maine guide, and a bassist. She grew up in central Maine, where she now lives and writes.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/21/2025

Taylor shines in her intelligent debut about two Harvard students whose lives are upended when they discover a potential cure for aging. Sophomore Zoe is attracted to fellow organic chemistry major Jack, with whom she works on an extracurricular project in a retired professor’s private lab. There, with Zoe’s help, Jack stumbles upon a way to reverse the effects of aging. In between their exciting breakthroughs, their love lives become increasingly tangled. After Zoe loses her virginity to Jack, she falls for one of his roommates, and Jack invites a potential flame, whose father is a billionaire venture capitalist, to partner with the pair to produce an antiaging drug. Taylor thrills with her crackling and science-heavy depiction of the hothouse startup and its founders’ dizzying ascent into the spotlight. The character work is just as impressive, as Zoe struggles to be accepted as a woman in a male-dominated field (“the part of the scientist was written male”) and Jack strives to overcome his difficult upbringing, having been being raised by his great-grandparents after facing abuse from his single mother’s boyfriends. After Zoe makes a shocking discovery that threatens to bring down their company, the plot ramps up, and readers will race through the pages to see what happens next. This is a winner. Agent: Katie Greenstreet, Paper Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Notes on Infinity is mesmeric, and beautiful, and 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. A cautionary look at our need to push our limitations, and a perfect portrait of friendship, family, and that fine line between exhilaration and agony. I really couldn’t have loved it more.”

—Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark and We Begin at the End

"I adored this book. It follows two Harvard students developing an antidote to aging. I have an absolute fascination in start-ups from colleagues’ stories of Google in its early days. This delivered in that respect, but in so many others, too: love, and partnership, and being the only woman in the room, growing up and deciding who you wish to be. It is very clever, but it has a huge, messy heart, which is exactly what I love in a book."

—Abigail Dean, author of Girl A and Day One

“Dive into the world of Harvard's brightest minds with Notes on Infinity. This unputdownable campus novel offers an inside look at the intense, high-stakes world of academia, where ambition, brilliance, and pressure collide. Austin Taylor gives a sharp, thoughtful exploration of the pursuit of dreams, of greatness, and the cost of success in an environment that demands nothing less than perfection. For lovers of campus dramas and anyone who has ever wondered what really happens behind Ivy League walls.”

—Weike Wang, PEN/Hemingway Award-winning author of Chemistry, Joan is Okay, and Rental House

“The best of books: one I could not put down while also, simultaneously, wishing it was truly infinite. A perfectly realized novel with crystalline characters and a palpable sense of time, historically and of the characters' lives. Austin Taylor's ability to tell a story is superb and Notes on Infinity is a reading experience to savor.”

—Lottie Hazell, author of Piglet

“As ambitious, intelligent, and dazzling as its characters, Notes on Infinity had me in its thrall from start to finish. A transporting smart kids campus novel and love story that examines contemporary startup culture from a tough female perspective—I will be recommending this one widely. I devoured it.”

—Emma Knight, author of The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

“With Notes on Infinity, a tangled tale of biotech gone awry, Taylor shifts the boundaries of the campus novel, portraying a newly pressurized student culture… [and] explores arguably the most human boundary of all—mortality.”

—Publishers Weekly, Writers to Watch feature

"Taylor thrills with her crackling and science-heavy depiction of the hothouse startup and its founders’ dizzying ascent into the spotlight.... readers will race through the pages to see what happens next. This is a winner.”

—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Notes on Infinity is a blazing meditation on the pressure cooker of academia, the price of fame in the digital age, and how far is too far to go for a chance at corporeal—or scientific—immortality. "

—Shelf Awareness

"A convincing portrayal of the hothouse collegiate environment in the sciences by an author with exciting potential."

—Kirkus

"With a trajectory that echoes that of Elizabeth Holmes’ Theranos, Taylor's debut provides an insider's glimpse into the high-stakes Ivy League climate and the potentially devastating personal consequences for those caught up in ambition beyond their abilities."

—Booklist

From the Publisher

3/14/2025

This novel reads like a narrative alternative to Elizabeth Holmes's story with Theranos. The story is thick with biotech influence and East Coast academia references, as it follows two young Harvard students who boldly go out on their own with a theory to defy aging cells. The rotating points of view between Zoe and Jack allows readers to get to know who these characters were before they became partners, in so many senses of the word. The quick rise of Zoe and Jack's idea and later company sets up opportunities for a higher fall. The lengthy read and complex relationships, combined with the niche East Coast academia references, will likely be a challenge for readers who are just generally interested in the topic or idea. Though all content is appropriate for teen readers, there are instances of drug abuse, physical abuse, and suicide that some readers may want to be warned about. VERDICT Unless titles like John Carreyrou's Bad Blood or scientific memoirs are hot commodities in your library, this is one to pass on.—Samantha Hull

School Library Journal