This is a well written book by William Rosen, who tells a phenomenal story about the discovery and invention of antibiotics. William Rosen is not a scientist but is an author, historian, publisher, and editor. Despite of this, base on his writing, notes, bibliography, research, and index at the end of the book, he is a trustful author. Although there is a lot of science in this book, his writing is conversational and provide details about the actual development of antibiotics.
At the beginning of each chapter, a story is told of a sick patient. This tells the story of how he or she tried to survive and how they would try to cure certain diseases before the discovery of antibiotics. Nothing seemed to work such as therapeutic efforts or doctors removing at least 60 percent of their patients’ blood. In the case of George Washington in 1799, the former presidents neck was coated with a paste composed of wax and beef fat mixed with an irritant made from the secretions of dried beetles, one powerful enough to raise blisters, which were then opened and drained, apparently in the belief that it would remove the disease-causing poison. Yes, that sounds disgusting I know. I had the same facial expression.
With telling those stories, it gives the reader an idea of how they would try to treat diseases in the past. The survival of a woman named Anne Miller who was about to die from a strep infection, marked the beginning of the antibiotic revolution. She was injected with the world’s entire supply of a new drug: penicillin. Diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever, disease that killed billions of people over thousands of years, were finally treatable, and even curable.
This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the modern, historical, and evolution of medicine. This is a fascinating book and the science is gripping from the beginning to end. It also provides pictures of scientist and their discoveries. Although this book provided the positive of antibiotics, it does not provide the negative effects or the over use of antibiotics. Over all, this book is still worth a read.
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Edward M Freibauer
A story worth reading..thank you Mr. Rosen
Reviewed in Canada on May 22, 2017