Why read The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat?

Book cover of The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle

Book description

The author of Life and Death on 10 West chronicles the fascinating true story of the Oxford scientists who discovered penicillin by experimenting on mold, creating a family of drugs that would eradicate some of the worst diseases in human history. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Andrew Lam

Author

The discovery of penicillin is one of humanity’s greatest stories of serendipity and Eric Lax’s retelling is excellent.

Though Alexander Fleming has received the lion’s share of the credit for this discovery, in truth, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley were the ones who discovered and proved the penicillium mold’s true medical effectiveness as an antibiotic.

How this trio from Oxford made their breakthrough at the height of WWII and were robbed of the credit is a fabulous tale as spellbinding as any Hollywood movie.

From Andrew's list on the history of medicine.