The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle
3 journalers for this copy...
Placing in the booklady331's nonfiction VBB.
Sending out as part of a non-fiction VBB. Enjoy!
Thank you, Firegirl! I've been wanting to read this for some time now.
Though at times somewhat dry, this was overall a very interesting and enlightening read. I didn’t understand all the science but still learned a lot.
Many things surprised me:
• The difficulty of extraction, requiring a lot of work to obtain miniscule quantities of the antibiotic
• The constraints (both financial and logistical) that WWII put on the work, particularly the dangers of international travel
• The fact that Florey and his colleagues really did most of the work to isolate and develop penicillin, while Fleming got almost all the credit (including the Nobel Prize) for having first observed its bacteria-killing properties
• The fact that most of today’s pharmaceutical companies already existed in the 1940’s
Most of the book describes in detail the science behind the production of penicillin. I liked that not only the professional lives of the people involved, but also their personal lives were discussed. Towards the end a good number of pages are devoted to the question of credit for the discovery. Fleming was happy to take full credit and it fell to others to advance the notion that it was Florey and his team at Oxford that did the hard work. I know this happens a lot in scientific research and it raises the question of Discovery vs. Development.
Many things surprised me:
• The difficulty of extraction, requiring a lot of work to obtain miniscule quantities of the antibiotic
• The constraints (both financial and logistical) that WWII put on the work, particularly the dangers of international travel
• The fact that Florey and his colleagues really did most of the work to isolate and develop penicillin, while Fleming got almost all the credit (including the Nobel Prize) for having first observed its bacteria-killing properties
• The fact that most of today’s pharmaceutical companies already existed in the 1940’s
Most of the book describes in detail the science behind the production of penicillin. I liked that not only the professional lives of the people involved, but also their personal lives were discussed. Towards the end a good number of pages are devoted to the question of credit for the discovery. Fleming was happy to take full credit and it fell to others to advance the notion that it was Florey and his team at Oxford that did the hard work. I know this happens a lot in scientific research and it raises the question of Discovery vs. Development.
A very belated birthday book for 2018, as promised late last year. Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy it!
Released for 2019 Keep Them Moving Challenge hosted by booklady331.
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I hope you enjoy the book!
Released for 2019 Keep Them Moving Challenge hosted by booklady331.
Welcome to BookCrossing!
Please make a journal entry so we know this book has found a new home.You don't need to join BookCrossing and you can remain completely anonymous. However, we encourage you to join so that you can follow this book's future travels. (You’ll receive an email anytime someone makes a journal entry). It's fun, free, and confidential. If you decide to join, consider listing eponine38 as referring you.
Take your time reading the book, and after you finish, please make another journal entry to record your thoughts about it. This book is now yours, and you can keep it if you choose, though we would love for you to share it. If you pass it along, please make a release note to let others know where you left it “in the wild”, or a journal entry if you gave/sent it to a known person.
I hope you enjoy the book!
Not all humans are
created on the same level,
but the unfairness doesn't end there.
created on the same level,
but the unfairness doesn't end there.
