The Demon Under The Microscope

By: Thomas Hager

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. This incredible discovery was sulfa, the first antibiotic medication. In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of the drug that shaped modern medicine.

Sulfa saved millions of lives, among them, Winston Churchill's and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr.'s, but its real effects have been even more far reaching. Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved, and sold. It transformed the way doctors treated patients. And it ushered in the era of modern medicine. 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.

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 central (though mistaken) idea that brought sulfa to the world. This is a fascinating scientific tale with all the excitement and intrigue of a great suspense novel.

©2006 Thomas Hager (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Highly entertaining." (Publishers Weekly)

Interesting History

Would you listen to The Demon Under The Microscope again? Why?

Yes. There is a lot of interesting history, and I think a second listen would help me to remember more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The story was fascinating in the way that it connected the history of sulfa drugs with the surrounding geo-political environment.

What about Stephen Hoye’s performance did you like?

He was easy to understand. The pacing and inflection were appropriate to the story.

A fascinating read for any student of drugs

As a recently retired hospital/retail pharmacist, I found the narration kept my attention and never got boring. The history related around the discovery of antibiotics, the people involved, and how the treatment of infections evolved over 100+ years was amazing. I found that the drug hesitancy and the process changes required relates to today's challenges with Covid-19. Imagine where we would be if there wasn't politics and greed determining today's healthcare.

Connections

Another one of those books that brings together the stories behind significant history that is never learned in history class. The narrator is perfect for the era and the subject. I admit I took a couple of breaks from this book to listen to some lighter books but I quickly returned to this one to find out what happened next.

Great read if you are an md

Informs knowledge of antibiotic discovery and resistance, the struggles and humanitarian views of man who discovered and his team

The first antibiotics rise and influence

What made the experience of listening to The Demon Under The Microscope the most enjoyable?

I am a biologist and have had extensive training in molecular and microbiology, yet somehow this amazing tale of Gerhard Domagk slipped by the regular curriculum. This is a fascinating tale of how the world's first antibiotic was discovered. But it is a lot more than just a tale of scientific endeavor. Its a biographical sketch of one of the forgotten heroes of biology - his motives, his perseverance and his rivalries. Its truly an inspiring tale.

The author does a fantastic job of tying all these tales together and goes even bound to talk about how these discoveries led to public perception of health and medicine and creation of FDA in the US. I highly recommend this book.

What about Stephen Hoye’s performance did you like?

Stephen Hoye's narration is spotless. His enthusiasm for the story is well reflection in the way he narrates the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

A HISTORY BOOK THAT AMAZES & HOLDS YOU IN AWE

Any additional comments?

Everyone knows that penicillin was a miracle drug, but almost everyone has forgotten that it was not the first miracle drug. The sulfa drugs came a decade before, producing unprecedented cures that physicians and patients thought of as miraculous; and then the penicillin-type antibiotics surpassed them. It is clear that Sulfa deserves much more attention in the history of medicine than it has gotten. By some definitions, since they are not made by living organisms, sulfa drugs are not really antibiotics, but they certainly fought microbial infections in their time, and got medicine beyond the limits of mere antisepsis or disinfecting.

They also proved a model for scientific evaluation of drug effectiveness.Chances are that you have never even heard the name of the doctor whose work is the backbone for this story, Gerhard Domagk. Domagk makes a tenacious but unspectacular hero, working day after day through clinical trials, mostly with mice, but he was inspired by his harrowing experiences as a medic in the First World War to fight against the infections he had seen there caused by the strep germ, a feared killer, one that killed in many different ways, infecting tissue, blood, or spinal fluid. For five years, there were no results of his labwork, until he was sent a molecule with Sulfonamide attached to it.

Thoroughly researched and a definite page turner

Great story, very thorough. The narrator is a little dramatic but not irritating enough to stop listening. The story goes very in depth, looking at all scientists and researchers involved, how the world wars affected the discoveries, and how time changed the science. Very well written.

An excellent book, read well

This is one of the better general-interest science history books I've read or listened to. Hager takes a story that crosses international borders, contains stories from politics, military history, and organic chemistry and presents them in a way that is accessible to the lay person but satifying to an expert. He skillfully weaves the threads of this story together to make listening to this audiobook compelling and difficult to turn off.

ONE OF THE GREAT SCIENCE READS

This was a very enjoyable popular science read, along the lines of Splended Solution or The Ghost Map. Admittedly I read it quite a while ago but I have-not forgotten the wow-cool factor that this book elicited.

Sometimes it's hard ( or even impossible) to imagine certain subjects or titles could possibly be a great read.Personaly I don't know anyone who wouldn't roll their eyes at being given or shown this book- they are the losers, for having an open mind always enables life's treasures to get through AND be understood and appreciated.

We certainly take drugs for granted and forget that not so long ago things as simple as a cut finger or a blister could quite possibly kill you if it got infected. Any infection was a possible death sentence before sulfa. This is the story of one of the greatest medical paradigm shifts in history,

Thomas Hagar does a great job of conveying these 2 separate worlds (and separate worlds is not an exaggeration), before sulfa and after. And he tells the fascinating tale of the "sulfa bridge" which changed the world. If you enjoy great science history writing then this really should be on your list P.S. The narrations great.

History at its best, and very well read

On first approach you wouldn't think that the history of the discovery of sulfa could be fascinating, but this book is absorbing, it is history at its best. You know how history has to be felt? How history should not be something we think about only at an intellectual level, but, something we experience at an emotional level? That's what this book allows us to do. And the great thing is it is not melodramatic, it is wonderfully done. I warmly recommend it.
The reader is also great, he is now up there with Simon Vance and Stephen Briggs in my list.
I have to say that I don't usually read non-fiction, but the book was on sale and the reviews were good and I was not disappointed one bit. Way to go Audible! =)