Thomas Hager

A sweeping history of tragic genius, cutting-edge science, and the Haber-Bosch discovery that changed billions of lives—including your own.At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing global Mass starvation was about to become a reality. A call went out to the world’ s scientists to find a solution.This is the story of the two men who found brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, and saved millions of lives.But their epochal triumph came at a price we are still paying. The Haber-Bosch process was also used to make the gunpowder and explosives that killed millions during the two world wars. Both men were vilified during their lives; both, disillusioned and disgraced, died tragically.The Alchemy of Air is the extraordinary, previously untold story of a discovery that changed the way we grow food and the way we make war–and that promises to continue shaping our lives in fundamental and dramatic ways.

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. 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 those of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.—but its real effects are even more far reaching. Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved, and sold; transformed the way doctors treated patients; and 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 colorful story, The Demon Under the Microscope illuminates the vivid characters, corporate strategy, individual idealism, careful planning, lucky breaks, cynicism, heroism, greed, hard work, and the 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.For thousands of years, humans had sought medicines with which they could defeat contagion, and they had slowly, painstakingly, won a few some vaccines to ward off disease, a handful of antitoxins. A drug or two was available that could stop parasitic diseases once they hit, tropical maladies like malaria and sleeping sickness. But the great killers of Europe, North America, and most of Asia—pneumonia, plague, tuberculosis, diphtheria, cholera, meningitis—were caused not by parasites but by bacteria, much smaller, far different microorganisms. By 1931, nothing on earth could stop a bacterial infection once it started. . . .But all that was about to change. . . . —from The Demon Under the Microscope

Behind every landmark drug is a story. It could be an oddball researcher’s genius insight, a catalyzing moment in geopolitical history, a new breakthrough technology, or an unexpected but welcome side effect discovered during clinical trials. Piece together these stories, as Thomas Hager does in this remarkable, century-spanning history, and you can trace the evolution of our culture and the practice of medicine.​Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.

The extraordinary, unknown story of two giants of American history—Henry Ford and Thomas Edison—and their attempt to create an electric-powered city of tomorrow on the Tennessee RiverDuring the roaring twenties, two of the most revered and influential men in American business proposed to transform one of the country’s poorest regions into a dream technological metropolis, a shining paradise of small farms, giant factories, and sparkling laboratories. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s “Detroit of the South” would be ten times the size of Manhattan, powered by renewable energy, and free of air pollution. And it would reshape American society, introducing mass commuting by car, use a new kind of currency called “energy dollars,” and have the added benefit (from Ford and Edison's view) of crippling the growth of socialism.The whole audacious scheme almost came off, with Southerners rallying to support what became known as the Ford Plan. But while some saw it as a way to conjure the future and reinvent the South, others saw it as one of the biggest land swindles of all time. They were all true.Electric City is a rich chronicle of the time and the social backdrop, and offers a fresh look at the lives of the two men who almost saw the project to fruition, the forces that came to oppose them, and what rose in its a new kind of public corporation called the Tennessee Valley Authority, one of the greatest achievements of the New Deal. This is a history for a wide audience, including readers interested in American history, technology, politics, and the future.

Tracing the career of Linus Pauling, one of the century's greatest American scientists and the only person to win two unshared Nobel prizes, a meticulouly researched chronicle shows how Pauling revolutionized chemistry and examines his controversial politics. 20,000 first printing.

Linus Pauling was the most important chemist, and arguably the most important American scientist, of the 20th century. From his description of the chemical bond to his discovery of the cause of sickle-cell anemia and his groundbreaking work with vitamin C, his work stretched the boundaries of chemistry, physics, biology, immunology, and more. Acclaimed science writer Tom Hager brings Pauling's wide range of scientific accomplishments vividly to life while also shedding light on Pauling's activities outside the scientific realm. He shows how Pauling used his popularity to advance political causes, particularly his opposition to the spread of nuclear weapons during the 1950s. Despite the troubles his political activism caused him, he remained unmoved in his dedication to making the world a safer place. His perseverance was rewarded with a Nobel Peace Prize in 1963, which along with his 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, made him the only person in history to win two unshared Nobels.Oxford Portraits in Science is an on-going series of scientific biographies for young adults. Written by top scholars and writers, each biography examines the personality of its subject as well as the thought process leading to his or her discoveries. These illustrated biographies combine accessible technical information with compelling personal stories to portray the scientists whose work has shaped our understanding of the natural world.

I farmaci possono dare assuefazione ma anche salvarci la vita. Sono benefici ma anche pericolosi. Danno sollievo, distruggono e proteggono. Sono prodotti high-tech e allo stesso tempo sono i discendenti di riti antichissimi, e per mostrare la loro efficacia devono entrare in un rapporto quanto mai intimo con il nostro corpo. Dalla prima raccolta della linfa di papavero da oppio, avvenuta migliaia di anni fa, fino alle statine e ai recentissimi anticorpi monoclonali, in questo libro Thomas Hager ci regala le brevi biografie di dieci farmaci che hanno scritto la storia della medicina e della nostra cultura, e che hanno contribuito a plasmarci per ciò che siamo l’Homo pharmacus, il Popolo della Pasticca. I vaccini, la morfina, gli oppioidi, la pillola anticoncezionale, il Viagra e gli antipsicotici diventano così i protagonisti di un racconto in cui si intrecciano anche altri dall’evoluzione del concetto di farmaco alla costante ricerca della pillola magica capace di sconfiggere le malattie senza compromettere la salute, dalla nascita dei colossi farmaceutici (le famigerate Big Pharma) all’evoluzione della figura del medico.

Von Pflanzen, Pulvern und bunten Die Geschichte der Medizin unterhaltsam erzähltEine Impfung bewahrt vor den schlimmsten Krankheiten, Antibiotika retten Leben und Tabletten sind aus unseren Medizinschränken kaum noch wegzudenken. Aber jede Arznei hat ihre Geschichte, und so manches gefeierte Präparat landete später als gefährliche Droge auf dem Müllhaufen der Medizinhistorie. Mit detektivischer Passion deckt Thomas Hager die spannenden Hintergründe der zehn wichtigsten Wirkstoffe auf und beschreibt, wie ihre Entdeckung die Geschichte der Pharmazie und unserer Gesellschaft prägte. Medizinische »Greatest Hits« wie Penicillin und Aspirin lässt er dabei bewusst außen vor und widmet sich neben K.O.-Tropfen und Opium auch unbekannteren Vertretern. Von allen erzählt er mit wissenschaftlicher Akribie und großem Unterhaltungswert.- Unterhaltsames Sachbuch, fesselnd, informativ und verständlich geschrieben- Die unglaublichen Biografien der zehn wichtigsten Wirkstoffe der u. a. mit Chloroform, Heroin, Viagra und der Anti-Baby-Pille- Von Kräuterhexen zur modernen Medizin und »Big Pharma«: Die Entwicklung der Pharmaindustrie früher, heute und in ZukunftDie Meilensteine der Medizin und der lange Weg zum wirksamen ArzneimittelDie Dosis macht das Gift – was heute jedem informierten Laien bewusst ist, mussten Chemiker und Pharmazeuten in den frühen Jahren der Medizingeschichte erst herausfinden. So gingen in der Medikamentenentwicklung Wundermittel nicht selten mit den verheerendsten Nebenwirkungen einher. Andere Medikamente entstanden als ungeplantes Nebenprodukt und gelangten nur durch glückliche Zufälle ins Apothekenregal. Erfahren Sie alles über die hustenstillende Wirkung von Heroin, die fast vergessene Pionierin, die Pockennarben aus unserem Alltag verbannte, und darüber, was rosa Mäuse mit Antibiotikum zu tun haben!

If you’re taking a statin yourself, or care about someone who is, you’ll find this book useful. It is designed to provide patients and caregivers the basic information they need to better -Where statins came from-If you or someone you love should be taking one-How they work-How to talk with your doctor about them-New information on side effects-Why they’ve recently become more controversial-Future research directionsWe hope that this book will help people to have better conversations about statins with their doctors. Because some leading medical groups have recently recommended giving statins to more people with low or moderate risk of heart and vascular problems (instead of only the high-risk patients), tens of millions more people with no symptoms at all of any problem are being faced with the issue of whether or not to start the drugs. This book will help them bring more solid information to those conversations.

Feeding a Hungry World chronicles the history and accomplishments of the International Fertilizer Development Center's (IFDC) first 40 years. Through first-hand accounts and IFDC archives, author Thomas Hager ( The Alchemy of Air ) sows the story of the Center's long-time dedication to increasing agricultural productivity. Behind-closed-doors conversations about U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's "fertilizer idea" and hand-written documents by IFDC's first managing director, along with historical photos from the Center's archives, illuminate a rich and enjoyable historical account of IFDC's dedication to feeding a hungry world.

Based on the latest medical information, this book explains how the human body system changes over time and provides practical advice on how to minimize the effectds of the aging process

Are you taking quetiapine (Seroquel)? Do you care about or for someone who is? Do you want to know more about how it works, its benefits and dangers, and why it's so controversial? This book is for you. A carefully researched guide written by science journalists, this book goes straight to the facts, cutting through the advertising and advocacy, simplifying the science, and telling you what you need to know about one of the world's most widely used, profitable, and controversial drugs. You'll read about the drug's history, from the breakthrough treatment of schizophrenia to its more questionable off-label uses as a sleeping aid and dementia treatment for the elderly; its lawsuits; its benefits and its side effects. This book covers it all and gives you the simple facts, from dosages and generics to weight gain and withdrawal. Here are the Naked Facts about the powerful, controversial prescription drug quetiapine (Seroquel): - How it works - Who should use it – and who shouldn’t - What can go wrong - Why people argue about it - Where to go for more information Quetiapine (Seroquel) is the first of a series of Naked Facts books about antipsychotics and other mind drugs. Naked Facts books are designed to bring readers up to speed on important topics in an easy-to-read format. Each book helps busy readers cut quickly through the jungle of questionable information flooding the net and the media by bringing them fast summaries of solid intelligence from reliable sources. From the medicines we take to the foods we eat, the technological wonders we hold in our hands to the ecological challenges that threaten our world, Naked Facts brings you the essentials you need to understand your world.