This book was a history/biography of the team who were involved in the development of penicillin. It was full of all the ups and downs, ins and outs, and personalities and peccadillos of the people involved in this endeavor. It didn't hide all of the academic shenanigans that went on during the research phase and it showed the world of academe in all its flawed truth. People as smart and innovative as those on Howard Florey's research team, as well as those brought on board, had egos to match and it made life very difficult for Dr. Florey. Add to that the desperate times of the early years of WWII and the drama seemed more like a novel than real life.

The book was also a mythbuster. Alexander Fleming may have discovered the penicillin mold, but he did nothing with it after that because mold was not his area of research and he thought penicillin was not very promising as a research field. However, when it came time for the interviews and accolades that accompanied the revelation of the miracle that penicillin was, he was eager to step up and talk. This made him a media darling and led to the false assumption that he was the person who gave the world penicillin. That was not the case. It as up to Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley to figure out what penicillin was good for, and how to synthesize it. Florey and Chain shared a Nobel Prize with Fleming for penicillin but Heatley was left out. This was a fascinating story filled with brilliant innovation by the scientists and all the tension caused by the real life events of World War II. It is not over long and that makes it a very accessible book. The arguments put forth by the author to clarify the murky history of the development of penicillin are well formulated and reasoned while not be overly detailed, keeping the narrative flowing at a good pace.

Very well done book for all readers interested in science or medicine. Even for those interested in the history of WWII. ( )

A readable account of Floreys teams efforts to synthesise penicillin after Fleming first described it. Interesting and set against the historical context of the Second World War, there's a sense of urgency about the story which is nicely conveyed. Overall, there's not an overwhelming amount of technical details but enough to keep you intrigued. A good, robust account of what happened and the subsequent misappropriation of credit, but this will appeal mainly to those with an interest in the history of medicine, mycology, and historical biography ( )

In 1928, Alexander Fleming, an eccentric Scottish microbiologist, saw how, by chance, penicillium mold inhibited the growth of certain dangerous and lethal bacteria. After a few years dabbling with his find, he gave up on it entirely to focus on other enzyme research. Ten years later, a group of dedicated chemists and other assorted scientists--Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley among them--happened upon Fleming's earlier research and decided to try to conduct large-scale experiments on the nature and mechanisms of the mold extract itself. The work that these fellows from Oxford conducted eventually resulted in Nobel Prizes and the virtual death-knoll for war-inflicted septicemia and lethal secondary infections. Eric Lax presents the history of the research with a rich fountain of personal correspondence and just enough cattiness to make scientists look like real people. A quick and engaging read. ( )

Skvěle napsaná a velmi čtivá kniha, která rozhodně zaujme i ty, kteří o problematice medicíny nebo vědeckého výzkumu mnoho nevědí ( )