Heroes and Scoundrels
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Nobel Prize in Medicine
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- 13,99 €
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- 13,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
Beware the pronouncements from medical authorities on high…
The good, the bad, and the ugly of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine are explored in these entertaining biographies of the world’s most highly recognized scientists. From unapologetic Nazis to dedicated humanitarians who carried out prize-winning research while being resistance fighters or peace activists, these engaging true stories reveal the depths of both the human strength and depravity of the people who forged medical progress in the twentieth century.
In Heroes & Scoundrels (Volume 2 in the Boneheads and Brainiacs series), author and medical historian Moira Dolan, MD, continues her fascinating exploration of Nobel Prize in Medicine winners, focusing on the years 1951–1975. The book’s many biographies include the delightful discoveries of a honeybee researcher who persisted through the carpet-bombing of Munich, in-depth reflections on the nature of consciousness from Nobel neuroscientists, and even wild, hard-to-believe self-experimentation in the name of medical progress.
Heroes & Scoundrels also provides readers with an eye-opening “behind the scenes” look at what one Nobel winner described as “a few odd crooks” in the Nobel Prize business of the post-War era, including researchers engaged in medical research dishonesty and fraud, and self-important scientists who leveraged their notoriety to influence public health affairs. The role of Nobel Prize winners is revealed in public debates about everything from water fluoridation to “good genes” and “bad genes.” One laureate wondered, “whether mad scientists should really be allowed to police themselves” in light of the lack of informed consent for vaccine research and modified viruses escaping from labs.
As put by another laureate, the “medical priesthood” is due for some critique, and this book will get you thinking.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Physician Dolan follows up Boneheads and Brainiacs with this fascinating study of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine from 1951 to 1975. The subjects run the gamut from altruists and humanitarians to "card-carrying" Nazis and "famous" racists: Werner Forssmann, one of three winners in 1956 for research on heart catheterization, was aware of the Nazi regime's atrocities as they were happening but continued wearing his Nazi badge to avoid being "professionally ruined and impoverished." Frank Burnet, who won in 1960 for work on the immune system, advocated for eugenics and the removal of literary studies from schools (he felt it was a waste of time). On the other hand, a 1969 winner, Salvador Luria, who studied bacteria, was an anti-war activist, and Christian deDuve, who won in 1974 for work on cell structure, was drafted to fight Nazi forces in Belgium. Most fascinating are the sidebars on women scientists—including Marianne Grunberg-Manago, who discovered messenger RNA, and Marguerite Vogt, who studied cancer and viruses—whose work was credited to their male co-researchers. This wide-ranging look at the lives behind the discoveries is just right for pop-science fans.
