When Rob Faulkner and Howie Becker, two sociologists who were

also experienced professionals in the music business, decided to

write something about this other part of their lives, they lived

at opposite ends of the North American continent: Faulkner in

Massachusetts, Becker in San Francisco. They managed the

cooperation writing a book requires through e-mail. Instead of

sitting around talking, they wrote e-mails to each other.

And so every step of their thinking, the false steps as well as the

ideas that worked, existed in written form. So, when Franck Leibovici

asked them to contribute something which showed the "form of

life" that supported their work, they (helped along by a timely tip

from Dianne Hagaman), they sent him the correspondence.

The result is one of the most complete and revealing records of

scientific collaboration ever made public. And one of the most

intimate pictures of the creative process in all its details that

anyone interested in that topic could ask for. Investigative writing

is not only about formulating chains of rational ideas (as the usual

format of scientific articles would like us to believe), but also mixes

plays on words, stories, and arguments in new arrangements.