Customer Reviews

Medicine, Science and Merck

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Roy Vagelos lived a rags-to-riches dream. He culminated his career as CEO of Merck, a giant company whose employees used to take lunch breaks at the store where he swept the floors as a boy. This is an inspiring tale, but not directly instructive. The author offers no tips for doctors, scientists or executives, nor does he address most of the current hot-button issues facing pharmaceutical companies. Vagelos simply, matter-of-factly presents the story of one man's life and achievements, without preaching or teaching. He does offer insights into scientific research (maybe too many, but this is his passion), into competitive hiring and into his management approach. His discussion of Merck's public health initiatives provides a much-needed counterpoint to the bad press the pharmaceutical industry has received in recent years. We suggest this book to those interested in Merck's history, in the pharmaceutical industry, in biochemistry or in a perfect example of an American immigrant's rise to success.

This is both a personal and a scientific autobiography/biography, beautifully done. A good read, with the science and corporate life understandable to the nonscientific reader. An action-packed adventure of an individual, a close-knit Greek-American family, and the pursuit of science -- at NIH, in Paris, at Washington University, and at Merck. The book provides an invaluable window into the scientific process as a human undertaking, warts and all. Good for young people thinking about science and/or corporate careers, as well as adding a needed perspective to the history of science through its nuanced account of research within the pharmaceutical industry.

Don't listen to any reviewers who tell you that they were disappointed not to have more about Roy Vagelos' "inner life" or "emotional life." Vagelos has had two stories to tell - one about the growth and development of medical science in business and the other implicitly about the dream of the ethnic American realized - and these stories are social, national and intellectual rather than "personal" in nature. The most exciting aspect of the book for me comes when he makes the leap from science to management - the final two steps up at Merck. As a reader, I like the Roy Vagelos who keeps to his personal style (seeing people face to face, visiting them where they work, solving problems through individuals rather than concepts, etc.) and who is willing to admit the limitations of that style (though, happily, they are few). This creates a sense of trust and believability (I mean in the writer-reader relationship), which is turn keeps us turning pages in what is otherwise a modest book.