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)

Captivating History

Excellent blend of Medicine, Science and History. Narrator was perfect for this text. This book details the history of sulfa drug development focusing in detail labratory trials, impact on medicine (especailly on the battlefield)and the many chemists, doctors, politicians and patients involved along the way. There is a nice balance between the technical story and the personalities involved.

Excellent Listen

Very informative and the narrative flows.

A close look at the history of antibiotics

As dull and technical as the subject of medical research might be to the average person, this book successfully makes an interesting, gripping story out of it. Conflicted people, torn families, huge puzzles to be solved, a miracle drug, a fall from grace, and Nazis.

What's there not to love?

Fascinating story, well told

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. I knew next to nothing about the subject: like many of my generation, I assumed penicillin was the first real antibiotic. This book dispels that myth and provides an amazing perspective on what life was like in the pre-antibiotic world. It is hard to imagine a time when a foot blister could cause the death of the president's son, but there are many alive now who were children at that time. The author is a good story teller who ties the narrative in with cultural history--I thought the role the sulfa drugs played in the formation of the modern FDA was particularly interesting. Well worth the listen.

Great story transcends medical history genre

I have recommended this book several times since I read it almost a year ago, and plan to listen to it again. I am a research scientist, and love the lessons learned by the scientists in the story and refer to them often. The characters are their motivations are also interesting, but to me the most interesting part is the historical context of the discovery of antibiotics (how recent!), how world events affected their discovery and development, and how they changed our world. I am not in the medical field and had no problem following the book - it is written on a level that anyone can follow.

fantastic

This was an amazing reminder of everything we take for granted. A profound story of perseverance to save lives but also the greed and destruction that comes with human progress.

Nice story about pharmaceutical and medical worlds

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, because it gave me a good idea on how the medical industry become what it is today and why we have so instinctive trust on medicine and drugs.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gerhard Domagk was my favorite character, first because it's the main character, second because he his the kind of person that I admire: follow his dreams and ideollogies even under the pressure of war or possibly being killed by nazis.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. I think it would be more like the type of movie I would watch in the History Channel or Discovery Channel.

Excellent

This is the story of the fight against diseases which have plagued mankind since before history was recorded, and biographies of the scientists who first discovered medicines that actually “worked”. As dramatic as good fiction, this is a true account of the trial and error progress of people who devoted their lives to the search through two world wars.

Well told and well researched; too political end

The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug by Thomas Hager is a nonfiction historic look at the development of drugs and antibiotics focusing mostly on the sulfa drugs of the 1930s and 40s.

The author did his homework. This book does an excellent job presenting the development of sulfa drugs, explaining what they were and how they work, and their effect on the world at the time. He also discussed the developments that came before it that paved the way for the sulfa drugs to exist and briefly covered what came after to replace them, completing the story. The story is well paced, very interestingly told, and has the right mix of scientific information and anecdotal diversions to hold the readers' interests and present the topic in a complete manner.

It's a shame the author had to make a political statement at the end of the book. It did not fit the message or tone of the other 99.9% that came before it. It's more of a soundbite you'd hear on a talk show as opposed to the well researched scholarship of the rest of the book.

I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.

In-depth, historical, scientific whirlwind

I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I purchased this book. Many "scientific" novels barely scrape the surface of topics for fear of being too complex for a broad audience. However, I was not disappointed. The story, while a little long-winded at times, goes into startling depth with scientific ideas and provides an enthralling historical account of the times. The characters are followed intimately, which gives them a more lively feel. And, I am happy to say I learned a lot from this story.