Penicillin Triumph and Tragedy [Hardcover]

Penicillin isthedrug of the twentieth century. It was the first of the antibiotics that, for decades after the Second World War, underpinned a popular belief that the threat of infectious disease had at last met its match. With the emergence of 'superbugs' these hopes have faded. Robert Bud pulls these different but conjoined stories into a compelling narrative: using a wealth of new research, he sets the discovery and use of penicillin in the broader context of social and cultural change across the world. His book will be of great interest to historians, scientists, and anyone wishing to understand this drug's seismic impact on our lives.

Introduction
1. Illness, drugs and wonder drugs before penicillin
2. Penicillin from organised science
3. Creating the brand in the era of propaganda
4. Making penicillin across the world
5. The carefree culture and the third industrial revolution
6. Fighting resistance with technology
7. Doctors, patients and the brand
8. Animals, resistance and committees
9. In face of catastrophe
Conclusion

This extremely well-written and exhaustively researched book is invaluable in understanding the story of penicillin and its cohorts as set against an ever-changing world social and economic order. It is worthy of the widest possible readership. Highly recommended. --I. Richman,CHOICE