Product Description

Penicillin has affected the lives of everyone, and has exerted a powerful hold on the popular imagination since its first use in 1941. The story of its development from a chance observation in 1928 by Alexander Fleming to a life-saving drug is compelling and exciting. It revolutionized healthcare and turned the modest, self-effacing Fleming into a world hero. This book tells the story of the man and his discovery set against a background of the transformation of medical research from nineteenth-century individualism through to teamwork and modern-day international big business (pharmaceutical companies like Fisors, Distillers, or Beecham (Smith Kline)). Now, sixty years after the antibiotic revolution, when there are fears that the days of antibiotics are numbered it has never been more timely to look at the beginnings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42852 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

About the Author
Kevin Brown has been Trust Archivist and Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum Curator at St Mary's NHS Trust, Paddington since 1989. Educated at Hertford College, Oxford and at University College, London, he is chairman of the London Museums of Health and Medicine.

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive and Informed
These days we take antibiotics so much for granted that there has recently been a campaign to persuade us we don't always need them. GPs are constantly faced with patients refusing to leave the surgery without a prescription for the wonder drug they believe will cure anything.

The most famous antibiotic is Pencillin, discovered by chance in a laboratory at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington.

This book is written by Kevin Brown who is curator of the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum and therefore knows his subject well.

The discovery of penicillin has been meticulously researched.
From Fleming first noticing the effects of a strange mould to the production of the wonder drug that helped win the second world war and save millions of lives ever since.

The book is not just a fascinating insight into the life of
Fleming and his discovery but also paints a vivid picture of the laboratory working conditions at the time.

It answers many of the questions raised as to who should get the
credit for penicillin: Fleming or Florey. Although the debate will always rage - the facts are there.

Described as "the best and most authoritative book yet" by
Someone who knows the subject well this book will be enjoyed not only
by those interested in scientific discoveries but anyone who enjoys a
good, well written biography.