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The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle

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Most of us, if asked who discovered penicillin, would answer that it was Alexander Fleming. The answer is correct as far as it goes. Most of us would probably also think that having discovered how penicillin could fight infection, Fleming got the word out and manufacture of the miracle drug began, to the benefit of all humankind. The truth is that Fleming discovered the mold's antibiotic potential in 1928, and the drug went nowhere. He was not able to find a way to extract the active component of the mold and so he never made any use of it. He gave up trying in 1935. It was only three years later that a researcher unconnected with Fleming got curious about the mold's potential, and thought it would be worth investigation by his team at Oxford. Credit is given where credit is due in _The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle_ (Henry Holt) by Eric Lax. Without the Oxford researchers, to whom Fleming was unconnected, the benefits of the drug would not have been available to Allied troops during the war, and Lax shows that developing the drug was a real wartime effort.

It was only by sheer luck in 1938 that the brilliant German biochemist Ernst Chain found Fleming's paper, and was immediately interested. Chain worked within the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford. He was part of a team that had been assembled by Howard Florey, an Australian physician devoted to research, a man who combined acute scientific instincts with skillful capacity to manage scientific team effort. Also recruited was Norman Heatley, a wizard in the lab with equipment and microscopic observation and analysis. It was this team that gave the world penicillin as a working drug. Throughout the book, Lax has put in reminders of military developments as the Oxford team made its progress. A picture shows boffins in the decidedly unscientific effort of digging an air raid shelter behind their research facility. Within the pages are descriptions of getting about by bicycles in the black-out, having to make do on rations (and amazement at the good food that was available when they traveled internationally), and worrying about what to do if there should be not just a Nazi air attack but an actual invasion. The title of the book comes from contemplation of that possibility. The team planned that if an invasion of their lab was imminent, they would destroy the lab and burn their research papers. The most valuable part of the research, the mold itself, was smeared into the coats of Dr. Florey and four colleagues, where it could be covertly carried if they had to flee the country.

The patents were lost to America, but the Nobels went to the British. Fleming, Florey, and Chain got the prize in 1945. Heatley, the author argues, with his tireless and inspired tinkering, was neglected. His contribution was belatedly recognized in 1990 when Oxford University gave him its first ever honorary doctor of medicine degree. The real lack of recognition, of course, is that Fleming in most people's minds is the only one to get the credit. Part of the reason for this is that Florey's team worked in quiet determination and did not seek publicity. When news of the effectiveness of penicillin became a topic in the popular press, Fleming made himself available for comments, and though he acknowledged the work of Florey's team, he did little to counter the impression that the team was working on his discovery and even at his behest. Florey, always idealistic, was horrified that publicity would raise the hopes of patients who could not expect to get any of the then minute quantities of the drug, so he refused to meet with reporters. Fleming gained publicity, and thus powerful patrons, while Florey and his team were obscure at the start and remain so. This is an illuminating story that reminds us that there was a time when people used to die because of being scratched by a thorn (and with resistance ever a problem, such times may come again). It is a fascinating tale full of chance and error that affect significant outcomes, and of foibles and mistakes as all-too-human scientists attempt and finally achieve a miracle.

This book covers more than twenty-five years of the quest for a viable bacteria fighter recounting the lives of the major players and further depicting the slow progress of medical invention combating infection through all history. The most critical era of this story, however, is coincidently the most important and harrowing years of the 20th century. The all too real threat of a Nazis invasion of Great Britain served as the backdrop for this story?s most vital moments.
Few would argue against the notion that the discovery and creation of Penicillin as a viable life saving medication is the most important medical event of the 20th century. Mr. Lax in a detailed, can?t put it down, page-turner manages to incorporate the nuances of all of the disparate personalities of the main characters whose devotion to their science and unrelenting commitment to the saving of untold millions of lives refuse to be deterred by the often overwhelming obstacles that faced them each day. In this new century when bringing a drug to market is reputed to take upwards of 10 to 15 million dollars, we watch as Dr. Florey goes before his money sources for research at Oxford and other entities of the time in hopes of raising $100.00 for supplies and comes away with $25.00. (That?s right, the decimal points were not misplaced) What we see to our amazement is that they made due.
Dr. Norman Heatley was a genius at coming up with a substitute for just about every necessary hospital research tool imaginable. We share his glee when he shows the rest of the team his latest Rube Goldberg contraption for making some vital process work.
There are countless anecdotes in the day-to-day stories of the mission?s successes and failures, all notes and attributions are scrupulously noted by Mr. Lax.
Surreptitious night flights to America via Lisbon with blacked out plane windows, reminiscent of many wonderful movies of the forties portraying life risking events surrounded by war had me shaking my head not simply because of the inherent palpable drama but because it all really happened.
The Americans did lend support in terms of money and ingenuity but it was this team of Oxford scientists who would not be denied. Because of them millions of lives were saved before the end of World War Two and countless millions continue to be saved as a result of the second, third and fourth generations of anti-biotic drugs spawned by their initial discovery.
Mr. Lax has, to the great satisfaction of the reader, set the record straight. He gave credit where it was due without disparaging the reputations of any of many important contributors. It was pleasing and insightful to learn the true story of the greatest medical discovery of the century. Further, that these scientists did their work for the betterment of mankind rather than for the unabated lust for money and power that now confront us daily in news reports cannot be ignored.
My words and recollections only touch the tip of the iceberg that is this story, I urge everyone to pick up a copy of The Mold In Dr. Florey?s Coat and then pass it on to a friend. Who knows maybe the notion of doing things for all of the right reasons might just start to spread.

Having little aptitude for the sciences and not being particularly well versed in them either, I am generally somewhat leery of picking up a book on a topic like this. But let me assure everyone that Eric Lax has given the world a very readable book here. "The Mold In Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle" chronicles the fascinating story of the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in his laboratory in England in the late 1920's. While penicillin appeared to offer great promise Fleming would become frustrated with his lack of progress and abandoned his research after just a couple of years. It was about a decade later that Dr. Howard Florey and a team of dedicated scientists including Ernst Chain and Norman Heatley would resume the research at Oxford and ultimately solve the puzzle of how to produce mass quantities of this amazing drug. The impact of penicillin was immediate and undeniable. Penicillin was surely one of the great discoveries of the 20th century!

"The Mold In Dr. Florey's Coat" is easily one of the best books I have read this year. The story grabbed me immediately and I simply could not put this book down. I now appreciate the trials and tribulations, the joys and the heartaches and the enormous expense involved in getting a new drug to market. This story reminded me a great deal of the drama surrounding the development of vulcanized rubber and of the bitter rivalry between Charles Goodyear and Thomas Hancock. In each case it seems that the wrong person ultimately received the lions share of the credit for the discovery. This is a wonderful book that I would highly recommend to all.

The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: the Story of the Penicillin Miracle By Eric Lax was a really good book. It was very informative and, surprisingly, not deathly boring. Most people associate the discovery and production of penicillin with Alexander Fleming. Alexander Fleming was the first one to discover penicillin, but he gave up on it when he could not isolate the penicillin from its surrounding liquid. The real people to isolate, produce and test penicillin were, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley. However, these great men were forgotten when it came time to name the champion of penicillin. This book tells about the real men behind the great miracle, their lives, how they went about studying and creating penicillin, and why they never received their proper credit. It is actually a little sad. The men didn't want the drug to get a lot of press attention due to the fact that it was still experimental and could still fail. So when Fleming was wrongly credited they did not correct it thinking the matter would soon die down. It did not and Fleming made no move to correct people either. In fact he benefited financially and award wise for something that he had basically nothing to with! The meaning behind the title is also a very interesting story, no, it does not mean that Dr. Florey discovered penicillin in his coat. The scientists worked on penicillin during a very dangerous time, World War II. With the always looming threat of a Nazi invasion, there was the possibility that they would have to destroy their work so it did not fall into enemy hands. Not wanting to lose all their precious work and have to start from scratch they devised a clever plan. The penicillin spores could lie dormant for many years and then be grown and studied. With the hope that at least one man from the group would survive, they all rubbed the spores into the cotton fibers of their clothing. Fortunately, the invasion never happened and they went on to discover the great miracle drug of their day.

Eric Lax has written a fine and very readable book about the story of penicillin. I found myself not able to put it down. Eric Lax has put in perspective where the true credit should be for the discovery and commercialisation of penicillin, with the consequence the rise of the antibiotic industry.

The book is well research and documented. It is a great shame that Florey has not gone down in history as the person to bring penicillin to the world. It was his persistence in gaining money to equip a modest lab and his judgement in getting the right people involved (Chain and Heatley). Thisresulted in the isolation, purification, efficiency and toxicity testing and finally commercialisation of penicillin that has saved countless lives.

An excellent book that I recomend to all interested in historical accuracy.

This is an excellent book that covers the development of Penicillin during world war II and the interwar years. Dr. Fleming was the first to discover the penicillin properties but never really was able to develop it. He would wind up with much of the credit and the Nobel Prize but the real work went to Dr. Florey and his research lab at oxford. They took the penicillin broth and turned it into the injections and powders that saved countless lives during World War II. It was American production that as the other big winner in the Penicillin story as they were able to produce over a billion mold spores that saved forty thousand lives in a short period of time. Penicillin was tirelessly publicized after production, and was a credit to Florey's efforts. This is a well written insightful analysis that shows how the drug was developed and the wonders of World War II production. It is a great addition to the history of medicine and a very quick read. Highly recommend.

Here one can see how a small matter becomes so significant that it can be considered a miracle since it contributed to creating a product that will save many lives

Amazing read. I'm a history teacher who just had three snow days in a row. Thank god for snow and penicillin. I couldn't put it down. Awesome and very humbling.

I am a biochemist and spent a major portion of my career studying beta-lactam antibiotics (the class that includes penicillin). I thought I knew this story pretty well, but when I saw "The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat" on a remnant table at a remarkably low price, I had to have it. I was a little put off by the subtitle ("The Story of the Penicillin Miracle"), since scientists are generally uncomfortable with the word "miracle," and indeed the book demonstrates that the penicillin "miracle" was a product of nature and a lot of very human endeavor.
When I got around to reading the book, what a pleasant surprise! It is extremely readable, well written, and generally easy to follow (despite the many characters and numerous twists and turns of the plot), and it is meticulously researched and annotated. There are quite a few minor scientific inaccuracies, which do not seriously affect the story but could have been corrected by a competent scientific editor.
Other reviewers have covered the story pretty well, so I will focus on only a couple of points. The author suggests that Florey has been somehow neglected by history, but--come on!--he shared the Nobel Prize, was elected to the Royal Society (became president even), knighted, etc. Scientists seldom if ever get more attention than that! If you put yourself in the position of the Nobel committee, it was pretty obvious that the discovery and development of penicillin were worthy of the Prize; the problem was in assigning credit to individuals. It is hard to imagine how they could have justified awarding the Prize to Florey, but not Fleming, and vice versa. It was Fleming's publication, then about ten years old, that caught the attention of Florey and his team, after all. Yet Fleming dropped the project, which might never have come to fruition but for Florey. And clearly many players had critical roles, so the logic of including a third awardee was undeniable. The Prize can be shared by a maximum of three individuals; Heatley was subordinate to Chain; Chain was the third; end of story. Heatley did have the satisfaction of outliving his more famous, and more Type-A, colleagues, and in time received significant honors.
To me, the real scientific majesty of the penicillin story lies in the discovery of its molecular structure and mechanism of action. The structure gets precisely two paragraphs in this entire book; the mechanism was not elucidated until much later. Abraham and Chain daringly proposed a structure that was considered wildly improbable by most chemists at the time, but which was proven correct by another Nobelist, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin. I have to believe that an author of Eric Lax's talent could turn this tale of astonishing scientific beauty and intellectual elegance into a story that would engage the interest of a lay audience. I wish he had tried.

Many people associate Alexander Fleming with Pencillin. However, if it were not for Dr's Florey and Chain, Penicillin would not have come into use until much later, certainly too late for WWII. The way the author presents the story is very readable and not dry. The author does not get too technical but yet brings in enough science to satisfy the lay person with an interest in science.