Heading off on vacation? Pack your beach bag with some of these great summer reads.
Pandora's Lab
In the world of biomedical research, we celebrate discoveries that improve our life expectancy and quality of life. Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong, by Paul A. Offit MD, provides a look at the other side of discovery, at the "uh-ohs" and "oops" and unintended consequences of scientific research.From the development of heroin, "God's Own Medicine," to the lobotomy as a cure for a variety of mental ailments, this book provides an in depth look at a variety of discoveries gone awry.
The Hidden Half of Nature
The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health, by David R. Montgomery and Anne Bikle, starts as a journey to revitalize a garden with proper nutrition and becomes a discovery of feeding our microbiota to improve health after Bikle is diagnosed with cancer.
Below is a list of eight more cutting-edge scientific books to keep your mind active this summer:
The Drug Hunters
The Drug Hunters: The Improbable Quest to Discover New Medicines, by Donald R. KirscI Contain Multitudes
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life, by Ed YongGet Well Soon
Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them, by Jennifer WrightRigor Mortis
Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions, by Richard HarrisThe Demon Under the Microscope
The Demon Under the Microscope, by Thomas HagerDeadliest Enemy
Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, by Michael T. Osterholm and Mark OlshakerQuackery
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything, by Lydia Kang and Nate PedersenDeadly Companions
Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History, by Dorothy H. Crawford
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