Welcome to the wb Z book Club. This is Jordan Rich. One of
the most important discoveries of the twentieth century was actually the first antibiotic. It
was sulfa, and the story of its development is found in a book with
an amazing title, The Demon under the Microscope. From Battlefield hospitals to Nazi
labs, one doctor's heroic search for the world's first miracle drug. The author
is Thomas Hager. For many millennia, mankind sought out medicines that could defeat
disease. There were concoctions that could stop parasitic diseases such as malaria and sleeping
sickness, but it was the discovery of sulfa and the impact of one doctor
that led to saving millions of lives on the battlefield and at home. Sulfa
changed the way new drugs were developed and led to an entire new family of
medicines that actually eradicated the root cause of disease, fighting off bacteria. If
you're interested at all in the history of medicine, this is a book for
you, The Demon under the Microscope by Thomas Hager. The Book Club w
b Z, Boston's news radio