Review by Booklist Review
Tuberculosis has been around a long time. And the number of deaths attributable to TB makes it the most lethal contagious disease in human history. In 1882, German scientist Robert Koch identified its cause, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a slow-growing but hardy bacteria. He also devised many laboratory and research innovations, including his famous set of Koch's postulates. Koch's professional rival was Louis Pasteur. Another celebrated contemporary, author Arthur Conan Doyle, admired, critiqued, and in some ways mirrored Koch. Doyle and Koch began their careers as country doctors but aspired to be much more. Each valued attention to detail. Both were sleuths. Koch was a medical detective. Doyle was the creator of Sherlock Holmes, fiction's most famous detective. Both flirted with fraud. For Doyle, it was superstition and spiritualism. For Koch, it was tuberculin, a bogus cure for TB. Goetz, a science writer and past executive editor of WIRED, brings together biography and scientific history, personal ambition and discovery, and a deadly infectious disease in a captivating tale.--Miksanek, Tony Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Former Wired executive editor Goetz (The Decision Tree) offers an intriguing medical and literary history based on "accidental partners in a profound social shift toward science and away from superstition." Robert Koch, a meticulous and ambitious German country doctor-turned-scientist, isolated the bacteria causing TB and, Goetz writes, in doing so "offered a template" not only for medical science but for "all scientific investigation." Physician and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle also viewed "science as a tool," and Koch's work in microbiology "provided the template" for Doyle's fictional detective's fascination "with minuscule detail." Though his scientific work remains an important legacy, Koch never achieved the fame he sought in finding a cure for TB. Yet, Goetz notes, "Koch's science became a kind of remedy nonetheless," changing the perception of the disease as "something that could be understood and defended against." Ironically, Doyle, though an admirer of Koch, would ultimately help debunk Koch's failed theory that an injection of "lymph" could cure TB. But this pair's fascinating, convergent stories have much more in common, as Goetz aptly demonstrates that both Koch and Doyle were doggedly inquisitive men who discovered that neither germs nor crime are any match for science. Agent: Chris Calhoun. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Until the late 19th century, tuberculosis was responsible for more deaths than any other ailment and its true cause was unknown. Goetz (The Decision Tree) follows the work of the brilliant and ambitious 19th-century German doctor Robert Koch, describing how Koch's careful investigative methods and novel imaging techniques led to the identification of the guilty bacillus. Goetz describes Koch's heated rivalry with Louis Pasteur and how it led to Koch prematurely promoting a cure that ultimately proved ineffective and, indeed, scandalous. Arthur Conan Doyle, then a young country doctor, was at first intrigued by Koch's claims but grew disillusioned. The central conceit of the book, that Conan Doyle's brief encounter with Koch's investigative style somehow influenced the creation of Sherlock Holmes, is thin gruel, but as an exposition of the rapid progress of medical science in the late 1800s, this work is significant and well done. The narration by Donald Corren is solid and engaging. VERDICT Recommended for listeners interested in the history of science. ["This book will be of interest to those who enjoy reading about history and science and 19th-century Europe, as well as fans of Sherlock Holmes," read the review of the Gotham hc, LJ 6/15/14.] Forrest E. Link, Coll. of New Jersey, Ewing Twp. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The story of a pair of unlikely heroes who crossed paths in Berlin in 1890 and forever changed the landscapes of medicine and literature. In the late 19th century, tuberculosis was an incurable scourge that killed indiscriminately and ravaged populations; for decades, it was the leading cause of death in Europe and the United States. The origin of the disease was a complete mystery, as was its uncanny ability to travel from one person to another. One young country doctor in Germany, Robert Koch (18431910), became determined to apply new theories of microbiology to his study of TB. His great breakthrough, that "germs" are isolatable bacteria that have infectious properties, profoundly changed the field of medicine. Meanwhile, another young country doctor, Arthur Conan Doyle, followed news of Koch's discovery from England. A moonlighting writer, Doyle traveled to Berlin when Koch announced a demonstration of a "cure" he'd devised from his laboratory research. Doyle's disappointment was acute; while Koch's germ theories were revolutionary, his remedy was bunk. Doyle pulled no punches in his takedown of Koch's remedy, but what he learned about Koch's methodology and earlier success left an indelible impression on his fiction. The idea of scientific detective work inspired Doyle to give up medicine and pursue literature full-time, and the character Sherlock Holmeswith his signature "science of deduction" techniquewas born. Atlantic correspondent Goetz (The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine, 2010) weaves these two narratives through a history of medical best practices, a fascinating period marked by improved hygienic practices and the possibility of new vaccines. Koch's legacy remains robust (he was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1905 despite his remedy gaffe), and his great accomplishment is a tenet that Doyle held dear in his stories: There exists a possibility of defense from any attacking agent, so long as the right clues are uncovered. A beguiling real-life medical detective story.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
