Thomas Hager

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.

How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine

Ten Drugs

Tells the story of controversial scientists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who are credited with saving millions of lives while being responsible for the creation of the modern chemical industry.

A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery that Fed the World But Fueled the Rise of Hitler

The Alchemy of Air

From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug

The Demon Under the Microscope

A sweeping history of the discovery of the world's first antibiotic, sulfa, and its seminal influence on the fields of medicine and science looks at key figures in the battle against disease, how sulfa changed the way in which doctors treated patients, and how it transformed how new drugs are developed, approved, and sold. 75,000 first printing.

The Lost History of Ford and Edison’s American Utopia

Electric City

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 River During 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 stead: 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.

The Lost History of Ford and Edison's American Utopia

Detrás de cada fármaco se esconde una historia. Puede ser la de un investigador excéntrico que resultó ser un genio, un momento decisivo en la historia geopolítica, un nuevo avance tecnológico o un inesperado pero afortunado efecto secundario descubierto en un ensayo clínico. A través de datos curiosos, anécdotas poco conocidas y personajes un tanto extravagantes, Thomas Hager propone un recorrido por las diez drogas más significativas de la historia a la vez que muestra la evolución de nuestra cultura y práctica de la medicina. Desde el uso que nuestros antepasados le dieron al antiguo opio, pasando por la historia de la mujer que introdujo la vacuna de la viruela en Gran Bretaña o cómo la heroína fue un ingrediente común para remedios contra la tos, Hager dibuja una interesante historia de la medicina que incluye las infames «gotas noqueadoras», el primer antibiótico que salvó numerosas vidas, el primer antipsicótico que ayudó a vaciar los hospitales psiquiátricos, la Viagra y la Píldora, las estatinas y los anticuerpos monoclonales. Diez drogas que cambiaron nuestras vidas es un libro profundo y entretenido que narra nuestra extraña y vital dependencia de las drogas desde hace más de diez mil años hasta la actualidad.

Sustancias que cambiaron nuestras vidas

Diez drogas

A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

O uso de fármacos é um dos pilares da medicina. As drogas são produtos importantes não só pelos fins terapêuticos, mas também simbólicos — basta pensarmos no surgimento da pílula ou dos remédios para disfunção erétil — e, evidentemente, econômicos. Por trás do surgimento de cada remédio há uma história e também uma combinação de fatores: novas tecnologias, mudanças geopolíticas, questões culturais, sorte. É o caso, por exemplo, dos tranquilizantes: descobertos por acidente por um químico que investigava conservantes de penicilina, foram lançados comercialmente na década de 1950 e se tornaram moda em Hollywood, pavimentando o caminho para antidepressivos e outros fármacos.

As plantas, os pós e os comprimidos que mudaram a história da medicina

Dez drogas

Dziesięć leków, które ukształtowały medycynę

A sweeping history of the discovery of the world's first antibiotic, sulfa, and its seminal influence on the fields of medicine and science looks at key figures in the battle against disease, how sulfa changed the way in which doctors treated patients, and how it transformed how new drugs are developed, approved, and sold. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

Homo pharmacus. Dieci farmaci che hanno scritto la storia della medicina

A Science Writer and Director of Special Projects Tom Hager

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.

Thomas Hager

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