The Demon Under the Microscope by Thomas Hager is a book I got hold of reluctantly. I got an email from Audible.com, a branch of Amazon that sells audiobooks. They, like Amazon's mp3 music files download easily into my iPod by way of the iTunes database. The email told of a sale of $5 audiobooks. That is a very good price, indeed. Just minutes ago, I saw a price for an audiobook of $58. As with the Kindle, a audiobook inside the iPod takes no space and is available for easy transport. Making short drives interesting and long drives a breeze, having the iPod begin as soon as I turn on the engine of my car, I get through plenty of books and courses from The Teaching Company.
I had already listened to "The Bad Samaritans" by Chang. That one was about the actual truth in markets and economic history concerning the emergence of Britain and the US as wealthy countries. It was fascinating and so good I sent a print copy to my friend, an accomplished economist. I had already listened "Buddhism for Busy People" by David Mitchie and it was very good. So many people have engaged with and benefited from Tibetan Buddhism that it has to be a worthwhile mine for some. But, so far, I have gotten the most from Westerners such as Jack Kornfield, Mark Epstein and David Mitchie who have learned from the East but retell what they know in a Western way with a Western twist.
By the time I got around to The Demon, I was not expecting anything very important or moving. Big error. Hager starts with the carnage at Pearl Harbor and contrasts the results with previous battles and disasters. Then, he begins in the late 1800's and shows what could and could not be done medically at that time. Antiseptics and the elimination of bacteria outside the body were understood. But, once the little bugs got started inside the body, very little could be done to stop them. Vaccines or similar strategies sometimes did but on a dirty battlefield, where a dozen or more types of bacteria might be blown deep into the body with a single blast, that approach did not work. For years and years, German chemists tried to find a medicine gentle enough for the body but effective against bacteria. Seriously depressing effort was just the first obstacle. Human blindness, obstinacy, nationalism and politics are also part of the story. The conditions my grandparents were born into, when there was not even a clear idea of what a good test of a medicine would be like, were not that long ago. Horrible errors and pathetic oversights had a good time with us on the long journey toward better medicines.
Maybe listening to a story is especially moving for me. I don't seem to be too distracted by the needs of driving and listening and I don't seem to forget what I heard. I highly recommend the book in any form.
