Heroes and Scoundrels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Nobel Prize in Medicine

by Moira Dolan MD

Overview

Beware the pronouncements from medical authorities on high…

The good, the bad, and the ugly of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine are explored in these entertaining biographies of the world’s most highly recognized scientists. From unapologetic Nazis to dedicated humanitarians who carried out prize-winning research while being resistance fighters or peace activists, these engaging true stories reveal the depths of both the human strength and depravity of the people who forged medical progress in the twentieth century.

In Heroes & Scoundrels  (Volume 2 in the Boneheads and Brainiacs series), author and medical historian Moira Dolan, MD, continues her fascinating exploration of Nobel Prize in Medicine winners, focusing on the years 1951–1975. The book’s many biographies include the delightful discoveries of a honeybee researcher who persisted through the carpet-bombing of Munich, in-depth reflections on the nature of consciousness from Nobel neuroscientists, and even wild, hard-to-believe self-experimentation in the name of medical progress.

Heroes & Scoundrels also provides readers with an eye-opening “behind the scenes” look at what one Nobel winner described as “a few odd crooks” in the Nobel Prize business of the post-War era, including researchers engaged in medical research dishonesty and fraud, and self-important scientists who leveraged their notoriety to influence public health affairs. The role of Nobel Prize winners is revealed in public debates about everything from water fluoridation to “good genes” and “bad genes.” One laureate wondered, “whether mad scientists should really be allowed to police themselves” in light of the lack of informed consent for vaccine research and modified viruses escaping from labs.

As put by another laureate, the medical "priesthood” is due for some critique, and Heroes and Scoundrels will get you thinking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610353939
Publisher:	Linden Publishing
Publication date:	08/23/2022
Series:	Boneheads and Brainiacs , #2
Pages:	310
Sales rank:	1,107,943
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Moira Dolan, MD, is a graduate of the Universityof Illinois School of Medicine and has been a practicing physician for over 30 years in Austin, Texas. Dr. Dolan is a patient advocate and public speaker who educates patients on their rights, and the need for a healthy skepticism of the medical profession. She is the author of the Boneheads & Brainiacs series: Volume I is Boneheads & Brainiacs: Heroes and Scoundrels of the Nobel Prize in Medicine; Volume II is Heroes & Scoundrels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Nobel Prize in Medicine; and look for Volume III to complete the series in 2024. Find out more at https://www.thenobelbook.com/.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Chapter 1 Yellow Jack 1

Chapter 2 Dirty Business 14

Chapter 3 Squiggles and Gold 22

Chapter 4 The Polio Researchers 29

Chapter 5 Like the Priest at a Wedding 41

Chapter 6 Self-Experimentation 47

Chapter 7 Drugs 60

Chapter 8 From Wahoo to Outer Space 67

Chapter 9 The Men (and Women) of DNA 77

Chapter 10 Self and Nonself 87

Chapter 11 Postal Worker Wins the Nobel Prize 97

Chapter 12 The Wonder Boys 105

Chapter 13 What Nerve 120

Chapter 14 The Cholesterol Discoveries 133

Chapter 15 The French Freedom Fighters 142

Chapter 16 The Cancer Detectives 153

Chapter 17 The Visionaries 166

Chapter 18 Making Protein 178

Chapter 19 Viruses Everywhere 187

Chapter 20 Brain Chemicals 202

Chapter 21 The Midwestern Genius 216

Chapter 22 Untangling Antibodies 221

Chapter 23 The Birds and the Bees 227

Chapter 24 Inside the Cell 249

Chapter 25 Infected by Viruses 265

Afterword 288

Winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1951-1975 291

Index 294

Editorial Reviews

07/25/2022

Physician Dolan follows up Boneheads and Brainiacs with this fascinating study of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine from 1951 to 1975. The subjects run the gamut from altruists and humanitarians to “card-carrying” Nazis and “famous” racists: Werner Forssmann, one of three winners in 1956 for research on heart catheterization, was aware of the Nazi regime’s atrocities as they were happening but continued wearing his Nazi badge to avoid being “professionally ruined and impoverished.” Frank Burnet, who won in 1960 for work on the immune system, advocated for eugenics and the removal of literary studies from schools (he felt it was a waste of time). On the other hand, a 1969 winner, Salvador Luria, who studied bacteria, was an anti-war activist, and Christian deDuve, who won in 1974 for work on cell structure, was drafted to fight Nazi forces in Belgium. Most fascinating are the sidebars on women scientists—including Marianne Grunberg-Manago, who discovered messenger RNA, and Marguerite Vogt, who studied cancer and viruses—whose work was credited to their male co-researchers. This wide-ranging look at the lives behind the discoveries is just right for pop-science fans. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"In exposing the good, the bad, and the ugly among Nobel Prize-winning scientists, Heroes & Scoundrels comes as a timely, necessary warning against accepting the pronouncements of medical 'experts' without question."—Foreword Reviews

"This wide-ranging look at the lives behind the discoveries is just right for pop-science fans."—Publisher's Weekly

“I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Every chapter was enlightening, absorbing, and indeed thrilling.”—Harvey J. Alter, MD, winner 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine

“I congratulate you on the originality with which you enliven the historical record by peering into the pool of laureate labors and noting the mixture of rightness and wrongness to be found there.”—William C. Campbell, PhD, winner 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine

“Lay readers, students and scientists alike, will find Heroes and Scoundrels entertaining, informative, insightful, and a genuine pleasure to read. The book provides a glimpse into what drives scientists’ creativity, and how the political and economic structures of their time, as well as the wars fought during those twenty-five years, impacted and influenced the personalities and scientific contributions of the laureates. Dr. Moria Dolan is truly a gifted writer and medical historian.”—Marian L. Lewis, PhD (cell biologist and virologist)

From the Publisher