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)

Not a light read!

Although the story is fascinating and I learned much about our history, it is very difficult to follow the plot through all the scientists and chemical formulations. This is emphasized because it is all prose and no dialogue. Still, if you can stay with it, it is worth the education.

Fascinating History of Medicines

This story shows how every science rally needs 50-100 years really mature. Every one really requires at least a couple of wrong turns and a couple of lucky mistakes.

Learned so much

Enjoyed it immensely; was my going to bed book and made sure to set timer every time so that I could go back and listen to every second of it. Fascinating.

Phenomenal. Pulitzer Worthy.

Absolutely amazing book. It is not possible to overstate the excellence of this work. Thoroughly researched, exquisitely presented, and highly detailed. Not quite biographical on its primary protagonists, but still very detailed on their probable motivations, emotions, thoughts, and impacts their respective environments and experiences played on them.

If you are a fan of early 1900's science history, or interested in medical history this will likely be your new favorite read.

I was lucky enough to get this now 10 year old book in a two-for-one credit promotion by audible, but it is easily worth full price. If you are interested in the subject matter, don't hesitate at all. You will not regret this read.

Narration is highly subjective, but Hoye is my idea of the perfect narrator for nonfiction, and his performance is superb.

The only detractor the book has, is the timeline can be confusing to follow, as the author jumps around frequently and sometimes without clearly stating so. However, these jumps are beneficial to explaining the overall narrative, and the timeline is completely possible to follow with reasonable attention.

A great listen

This book was so interesting and informative. I felt like Hager‘s writing style was very engaging and told in the manner of a story rather than just relaying information.

Must read for science nerds

Who doesn’t love history and science discovery!!! Well written and compelling. You will enjoy this book

A fantastic book

If you like history, science and the step by step retelling of discovery this book is for you. The author deftly weaves together events across time and from sites around the world to give a cohesive vision of illness caused by infection, war, disease and transformation brought about by science. At times heart wrenching and disturbing but an amazing read nonetheless. Excellent!

An excellent read

In their zeal to promote a book, publishers have a tendency to sensationalize and exaggerate. Sometimes, they just do not get the facts correct. The publisher summary of Demon Under the Microscope begins with “The Nazis discovered it.” The Nazis did not discover sulfa drugs nor did the Allies win the war with it. My god, the summary writer must not have even read this book because it does not communicate that at all. A German scientist and his team discovered sulfa drugs and not all Germans were Nazis. Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery, the first drug effective against bacterial infections. He was forced by the Nazi regime to refuse the prize and was actually arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo. The book does not suggest Domagk was a Nazi sympathizer, on the contrary.

That aside, this was an excellent book. As has been the case in the past, as a biologist, it is difficult for me to know whether a book like this would appeal to the masses. At times it is a bit scientifically detailed. Having worked in research, I think that the book does an outstanding job of portraying the very sometimes tedious work that can go into such an endeavor. The book does not just state that it took years to accomplish something, it takes you through the years, step by step by agonizing step. Not as much agonizing for the reader but the reader definitely gets a sense of the agony of the researcher.

The book is well researched and narrated. It is fraught with sidebars about disease and its treatment throughout history as well as what was happening in other parts of the world contemporarily. If disease and its treatment or the process of research is your interest, I would highly recommend this book.

Enjoyed the read and learned alot

I enjoyed the book from front to back evenly, as opposed to some books of this nature that are slow to start getting good. For me it was a medium easy read, there are a lot of German names to keep track of that was a bit tricky at times. Other than that the book really captured the state of the medical industry in its infancy and how it has changed into the safer, more modern system we take for granted today. Good narration as well.

Great Historical Book About Medicine & Chemistry

This book is not written just for chemists or physicians. It is written in layman's terms and the author simply tells a story. It's more like a novel than a history book. It is a fascinating look at what can only be described as a world spanning saga of the invention of the first antibiotics. The author looks not only at the main characters in the search for a miracle cure for bacteriological infection, but shows it all in the context of the world that we all live in. I really like nonfiction that reads like a novel because I learn so much along the way. I am not a scientist, but I can appreciate the scientific method much more now after this book. The narrator did a superb job and was not dull in the least. If you like nonfiction that really is stranger and more unbelievable than fiction, this book is for you! If you have a friend who is a chemist or physician, then you have a perfect gift!