'A well-told tale of trail-blazing science.' A rousing, valuable contribution to the history of medicine. This yarn prefigures the modern rush for corporate pharma patents it is testament to Hager's skills that the inherently unsexy process of finding the chemicals that might help conquer strep is as exciting an account of the hunt for a Russian submarine.'įascinating. He knows that lay readers need plenty of personality and local color, and his story is rich with both. ' Hager, a biographer of Linus Pauling, does a remarkable job of transforming material fit for a graduate biology seminar into highly entertaining reading. ' Grips the reader from the first paragraph.a story of dedication, luck, tragedy and triumph that's still relevant today.' And anecdotes about famous people affected- from Calvin Coolidge to Eleanor Roosevelt- are narrative spoonfuls of sugar.' He convincingly credits sulfa drugs for some of the most revolutionary and catastrophic moments in medicine.

enthusiasm for the search for a 'magic bullet' drug in the early 20th century is infectious. Hager tells it well.one can easily imagine 'The Demon Under the Microscope, ' like 'Microbe Hunters' before it, inspiring in young, idealistic readers the enthusiasm for medical research and the zeal for healing that generates great physicians.'

' A well-told tale of trail-blazing science.' A rousing, valuable contribution to the history of medicine.' This is a fascinating scientific tale with all the excitement and intrigue of a great suspense novel.' Fascinating. A strange and vibrant story, The Demon Under the Microscope illuminates the colorful characters, corporate strategy, individual idealism, careful planning, lucky breaks, cynicism, heroism, greed, hard work, and the central, though mistaken, idea that brought sulfa to the world. The very concept that chemicals created in a lab could cure disease revolutionized medicine, taking it from the treatment of symptoms and discomfort to the eradication of the root cause of illness. Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved and sold transformed the way doctors treated patients and ushered in the era of modern medicine. Sulfa saved millions of lives-among them Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr.-but its real effects are even more far reaching. In The Demon Under the Microscope Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of the drug that shaped modern medicine. This incredible discovery was sulfa, the first antibiotic medication. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. Fast-paced, suspenseful, and utterly satisfying, The Demon Under the Microscope is a sweeping history of the discovery of the first antibiotic and its dramatic effect on the world of medicine and beyond.

Demon under the microscope