-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine
by William Rosen
For fans of Microbe Hunters: The epic history of how antibiotics were born, saving millions of lives and creating a vast new industry known as Big Pharma.
As late as the 1930s, virtually no drug intended for sickness did any good; doctors could set bones, deliver babies, and offer palliative care. That all changed in less than a generation with the discovery and development of a new category of medicine known as antibiotics. By 1955, the age-old evolutionary relationship between humans and microbes had been transformed, trivializing once-deadly infections.
William Rosen captures this revolution with all its false starts, lucky surprises, and eccentric characters. He explains why, given the complex nature of bacteria - and their ability to rapidly evolve into new forms - the only way to locate and test potential antibiotic strains is by large-scale, systematic, trial-and-error experimentation. Organizing that research needs large, well-funded organizations and businesses, and so our entire scientific-industrial complex, built around the pharmaceutical company, was born.
Timely, engrossing, and eye-opening, Miracle Cure is a must-read science narrative - a drama of enormous range, combining science, technology, politics, and economics to illuminate the reasons behind one of the most dramatic changes in humanity's relationship with nature since the invention of agriculture ten thousand years ago.
"Starred Review. Former publisher and editor Rosen tackles a dazzling chapter of modern medical history in this chronicle of the discoveries that opened the age of antibiotics and gave humankind its first effective tool to fight back in an 'eons-long war' with infectious disease… Rosen's thoughtful, scholarly, and engaging history is a powerful testament to this fight." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. A richly documented history of the rise - and threatened future - of antibiotics… An encyclopedic reference for researchers and practitioners but also accessible for general readers due to Rosen's lively depiction of the people, places, and politics that color the history of the fight against infectious disease." - Kirkus
"Miracle Cure is enthralling. Simply and elegantly, Rosen brings so much vibrancy to this narrative, and the science is gripping from beginning to end. A lucid and fascinating book, Miracle Cure is a must-read for anyone with a curious mind." - Gilbert King, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning, Devil in the Grove
"Bill Rosen combines detailed analysis with a keen sense of humor to craft a page-turner describing the discovery of penicillin and streptomycin to combat scourges that had plagued man from time immemorial. This seminal historical work also warns the advances made during the antibiotics revolution in the 20th century are precarious and might be reversed if we fail to build upon the legacies of the heroic figures portrayed in Miracle Cure." - Michael S Kinch, author of A Prescription for Change: The Looming Crisis in Drug Development
"Carefully researched, hugely informative, and immensely entertaining." - Andreas Wagner, author of Arrival of the Fittest
"William Rosen integrates personal histories and scientific concepts so seamlessly that Miracle Curereads like a novel - I found it difficult to put down. This definitive history of antibiotics is a must-read for anyone interested in modern medicine." - Karl Drlica, Public Health Research Institute, Rutgers University and author of Antibiotic Resistance
"Rosen is a terrific storyteller and engaging stylist… He invites us to look beyond our… differences and recognize that we too live in a fragile equilibrium with the natural world." - The Daily Beast
"Readers will be swept along by the strong current of Mr. Rosen's good natured erudition." - The Economist
"Rosen is a natural and playful storyteller, and his digressions both inform the narrative and lend it an eccentric and engaging rhythm." - The New York Times
"Rosen has a facility for the telling anecdote and the quirky aside." - Bill Gates
This information about Miracle Cure was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
William Rosen, author of The Third Horseman, Justinian's Flea, and The Most Powerful Idea in the World, was an editor and a publisher at Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and the Free Press for nearly twenty-five years.
If you liked Miracle Cure, try these:
by Thomas Levenson
Published 2025
The centuries-long quest to discover the critical role of germs in disease reveals as much about human reasoning—and the pitfalls of ego—as it does about microbes.
by John Green
Published 2025
John Green, acclaimed author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world's deadliest infectious disease.
by Meredith Wadman
Published 2018
The epic and controversial story of a major breakthrough in cell biology that led to the conquest of rubella and other devastating diseases.
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
