Pavlov's dogs and Schrödinger's cat :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
xiii, 322 pages : ill ; 23 cm.
Production / Publication Information
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.
Summary
From the sheep, dog, and cockerel that were sent aloft in Montgolfier's balloon to test the air over Paris, to the famous clone Dolly the Sheep and the Darwinian finches of the Galapagos, Pavlov's Dogs and Schrodinger's Cat offers a look at the use of plants and animals--including humans--in scientific experiments. Rom Harre provides a fresh perspective on research, setting aside moral reflection to simply examine the history of how and why living creatures have been used for the purposes of discovery. From Gregor Mendel's use of pea plants to explore heredity, to Barry Marshall's used of himself as the experimental animal in his helicobacter experiments (he survived) and even the use of an imaginary cat in Schrodinger's famous thought experiment, the reader encounters a new perspective on scientific work.
Call Number
507.2 HAR
Publication Date
2009
Language
English
ISBN
9780199238569
The drug hunters :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
318 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Edition
First edition.
Production / Publication Information
New York : Arcade Publishing, [2017]
Summary
"The surprising, behind-the-scenes story of how our medicines are discovered, told by a veteran drug hunter. The search to find medicines is as old as disease, which is to say as old as the human race. Through serendipity-- by chewing, brewing, and snorting--some Neolithic souls discovered opium, alcohol, snakeroot, juniper, frankincense, and other helpful substances. Otzi the Iceman, the five-thousand-year-old hunter frozen in the Italian Alps, was found to have whipworms in his intestines and Bronze-age medicine, a worm-killing birch fungus, knotted to his leggings. Nowadays, Big Pharma conglomerates spend billions of dollars on state-of the art laboratories staffed by PhDs to discover blockbuster drugs. Yet, despite our best efforts to engineer cures, luck, trial-and-error, risk, and ingenuity are still fundamental to medical discovery. Drug Hunters is a colorful, fact-filled narrative history of the search for new medicines from our Neolithic forebears to the professionals of today, and from quinine and aspirin to Viagra, Prozac, and Lipitor. The chapters offer a lively tour of how new drugs are actually found, the discovery strategies, the mistakes, and the rare successes. Dr. Donald R. Kirsch infuses the book with his own expertise and experiences from thirty-five years of drug hunting, whether searching for life-saving molecules in mudflats by Chesapeake Bay or as a chief science officer and research group leader at major pharmaceutical companies"--
Call Number
615.1072 KIR
Publication Date
2017
Language
English
ISBN
9781628727180
A brief history of creation :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
xvii, 312 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Production / Publication Information
New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2016]
Summary
An essential history of Western scientific studies into the origins of life examines historical discoveries in the contexts of philosophical debates, political change, and evolving understandings about the complexities of biology.
Call Number
576.83 MES
Publication Date
2016
Language
English
ISBN
9780393083552
The secret of life :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
564 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Production / Publication Information
New York, NY : W W. Norton & Company, [2021]
Summary
"A definitive history of the race to unravel DNA's structure, by one of our most prominent medical historians. Biologist James Watson and physicist Francis Crick's 1953 revelation about the double helix structure of DNA is the foundation of virtually every advance in our modern understanding of genetics and molecular biology. But how did Watson and Crick do it--and why were they the ones who succeeded? In truth, the discovery of DNA's structure is the story of a race among five scientists for advancement, fame, and immortality: Watson, Crick, Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, and Linus Pauling. They were fascinating and brilliant, with strong personalities that often clashed. But it is Rosalind Franklin who becomes a focal point for Markel. The Secret of Life is a story of genius and perseverance, but also a saga of cronyism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and misconduct. Markel brilliantly recounts the intense intellectual journey, and the fraught personal relationships, that resulted in the discovery of DNA"--
Call Number
572.86 MAR
Publication Date
2021
Language
English
ISBN
9781324002239
Rosalind Franklin :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
112 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm.
Production / Publication Information
Minneapolis, Minnesota : Essential Library, an imprint of Abdo Publishing, [2018]
Summary
In Rosalind Franklin, learn how the British biophysicist and X-ray expert chose to pursue a career in science and helped discover the structure of DNA. Features include a timeline, a glossary, essential facts, references, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards
Call Number
YA B FRANKLIN
Publication Date
2018
Language
English
ISBN
9781532110429
Catching cancer :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
x, 229 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Production / Publication Information
Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2013.
Call Number
616.994 COR
Publication Date
2013
Language
English
ISBN
9781442215207
Rosalind Franklin :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
xix, 380 pages, [16] pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Production / Publication Information
New York : HarperCollins, 2002.
Call Number
B FRANKLIN
Publication Date
2002
Language
English
ISBN
9780060184070
The plutonium story :
Format:
Books
Physical Description
ix, 920 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm.
Production / Publication Information
Columbus : Battelle Press, 1994.
Call Number
355.82 SEA
Publication Date
1994
Language
English
ISBN
9780935470758
Francis Crick :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
x, 213 pages ; 19 cm.
Edition
First edition
Production / Publication Information
New York : Atlas Books, c2006.
Call Number
B CRICK
Publication Date
2006
Language
English
ISBN
9780060823337
You bet your life :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
258 pages ; 25 cm
Edition
First edition.
Production / Publication Information
New York : Basic Books, 2021.
Summary
"Four months into the coronavirus pandemic, as the death count surged, the FDA made a risky decision: it approved an anti-malarial drug as a treatment for coronavirus, despite limited data on its efficacy or side effects. A month later, the FDA withdrew its recommendation, but by then, the damage had been done. The drug was ineffective and sometimes even lethal. The mistake was hardly a one-off. As virologist Paul. A. Offit shows in You Bet Your Life, from antibiotics and vaccines to x-rays and genetic engineering, risk, and our understanding of it, have shaped the course of modern medicine, paving the way for its greatest triumphs and tragedies. By telling the stories of the events--and of the frequent hypocrisy and cravenness of the characters at their center--Offit shows how risk, and failure, have driven innovation, and importantly, how by examining our mistakes we can make better medical predictions and decisions going forward. From the outlandish origins of blood transfusions, which began with humans receiving blood for barnyard animals, to the the disastrous debut of the first polio vaccine, and the backstabbing and infighting that surrounded early gene therapies, he captures the drama that surrounds medical research, the way ego and laziness can collide with science, and ultimately how those factors should inform what we choose to do and have done to us in the clinic. The history is fascinating in its own right, but the worldwide rush to create a coronavirus vaccine only makes learning from the lessons of history essential. Weighing the uncertainties of a treatment against its potential benefits is one of medicine's greatest ethical dilemmas, and Offit examines it from every angle. He explores not just how patients and their families respond to risk but how everyone from physicians and researchers to universities and regulators do, too, and how that ultimately determines what treatments are put forward. Not everyone has the same goal. And too often the patient's health is secondary. But as Offit shows, we can all minimize risk and failure by learning how to recognize conflicts of interest, to draw inferences from animal models, and to evaluate risk, even when we have limited data. Along the way, Offit asks who should decide what risks are acceptable, and who should pay when the results are fatal. In the end, however, Offit argues that we are gambling whatever we do--and that we need to take that seriously, whether we pursue a treatment or decide to do nothing at all. The answers aren't simple, and the outcomes are life or death. Examining these questions with the compassion of a pediatrician and the rigor of a scientist, Offit reminds us that we all have a role to play in ensuring that medicine upholds its very first principle: to do no harm"--
Call Number
615.58 OFF
Publication Date
2021
Language
English
ISBN
9781541620391
A fierce radiance :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
532 pages ; 24 cm.
Edition
First edition
Production / Publication Information
New York : Harper, 2010.
Call Number
F BELFER
Publication Date
2010
Language
English
ISBN
9780061252518 9780061252525
Our biggest experiment :
Author
Format:
Books
Physical Description
xix, 359 pages ; 24 cm
Edition
First hardcover edition.
Production / Publication Information
Berkeley, California : Counterpoint, 2021.
Summary
"It was Eunice Newton Foote, an American scientist and woman's rights campaigner living in Seneca Falls, New York, who first warned the world that an atmosphere heavy with carbon dioxide could send temperatures here on Earth soaring. This was back in 1856. At the time, no one paid much attention. Our Biggest Experiment tells Foote's story, along with stories of the many other scientists who came before and after her, helping build our modern understanding of climate change. It also tells the story of our energy system, from whale oil to kerosene and beyond, the first steamships, wind turbines, electric cars, oil tankers and fridges. The story flows from the Enlightenment into World War Two and beyond, tracing the development of big science and our advancing realisation that global warming was a significant global problem, along with the growth of the environmental movement, climate scepticism and political systems like the UN climate talks. As citizens of the twenty-first century, it can feel like history's dealt us a rather bad hand with the climate crisis. In many ways, this is true. Our ancestors have left us an almighty mess. But they left us tools for survival too, and Our Biggest Experiment tells both sides of the story"--
Call Number
363.7387 BEL
Publication Date
2021
Language
English
ISBN
9781640094338
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