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I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right
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Expected 24 Feb 26An energetic and impassioned work of popular science about scientists who have had to fight for their revolutionary ideas to be accepted—from Darwin to Pasteur to modern day Nobel Prize winners.
For two decades, Matt Kaplan has covered science for the Economist. He’s seen breakthroughs often occur in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the research community, and how support can be withheld for those who don’t conform or have the right connections. In this passionately argued and entertaining book, Kaplan narrates the history of the 19th century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who realized that Childbed fever—a devastating infection that only struck women who had recently given birth—was spread by doctors not washing their hands. Semmelweis was met with overwhelming hostility by those offended at the notion that doctors were at fault, and is a prime example of how the scientific community often fights new ideas, even when the facts are staring them in the face.
In entertaining prose, Kaplan reveals scientific cases past and present to make his case. Some are familiar, like Galileo being threatened with torture and Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó being fired when on the brink of discovering how to wield mRNA–a finding that proved pivotal for the creation of the Covid-19 vaccine. Others less so, like researchers silenced for raising safety concerns about new drugs, and biologists ridiculed for revealing major flaws in the way rodent research is conducted. Kaplan shows how the scientific community can work faster and better by making reasonably small changes to the forces that shape it.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press
For two decades, Matt Kaplan has covered science for the Economist. He’s seen breakthroughs often occur in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the research community, and how support can be withheld for those who don’t conform or have the right connections. In this passionately argued and entertaining book, Kaplan narrates the history of the 19th century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who realized that Childbed fever—a devastating infection that only struck women who had recently given birth—was spread by doctors not washing their hands. Semmelweis was met with overwhelming hostility by those offended at the notion that doctors were at fault, and is a prime example of how the scientific community often fights new ideas, even when the facts are staring them in the face.
In entertaining prose, Kaplan reveals scientific cases past and present to make his case. Some are familiar, like Galileo being threatened with torture and Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó being fired when on the brink of discovering how to wield mRNA–a finding that proved pivotal for the creation of the Covid-19 vaccine. Others less so, like researchers silenced for raising safety concerns about new drugs, and biologists ridiculed for revealing major flaws in the way rodent research is conducted. Kaplan shows how the scientific community can work faster and better by making reasonably small changes to the forces that shape it.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press
Audible Audio
Expected publication February 24, 2026
8907 people want to read
About the author
Matt Kaplan
4 books36 followersMatt Kaplan is a science correspondent at the Economist and has been responsible for the newspaper’s coverage of biology for nearly two decades. His writing has also appeared in National Geographic, New Scientist, Nature, and the New York Times. He is the author of The Science of Monsters and Science of the Magical, and co-author of David Attenborough’s First Life: A Journey Through Time. He completed a thesis in Paleontology at Berkeley, and one in science journalism at Imperial College, London. In 2014 he was awarded a Knight Fellowship to study at MIT and Harvard. Born in California, he currently lives in England.
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November 18, 2025
I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an uncorrected digital galley of I Told You So! Scientists who were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for being Right by Matt Kaplan with an expected publication date of February 24, 2026, in return for an honest review. As a contrarian by nature this is a topic that is one of my favorite subject matters, and I can think of at least four other books that I have read of a similar nature.
The author, Matt Kaplan, is a trained paleontologist that left the world of academia for journalism and has been a science correspondent for The Economist covering biology for 20 years. Kaplan knows the subject manner and is able to tell his stories in a way that is easily understood by a non-scientific reader [myself, for example]. The book has a major theme that established scientists often do a variety of despicable things to maintain the status quo. The reason for this is manyfold: new ideas might result in loss of status, or bias against woman or scientists from less prestigious backgrounds or training. Science is supposed to work by challenging ideas and trying to replicate previous work. Kaplan argues that many advances in medicine have been delayed because of this tendency to minimize new ideas. A subplot to the book is that how research is funded, and reported, has the effect of minimizing new ideas. If you have been previously published, if you come from a renowned university, etc., you are more likely to get new funding or to have your papers published. Kaplan ends the book with a number of suggestions of how publications and funding can overcome these problems.
His case is made by retelling a number of stories, both contemporary and historical. The story of Katalin Kariko is up to the minute. A Hungarian born researcher at University of Pennsylvania, she was harassed, demoted, and fired because she was not getting funded or published. Of course, lack of support from the university had something to do with that. Her research which she had to complete elsewhere was instrumental to the Covid vaccinations and she received the Nobel prize in medicine in 2023. Fortunately for us, her treatment at UPenn did not prevent her breakthrough. Other scientists, who we may never know, have not been so lucky.
A scientist from more historical times, Iganz Semmelweis, also Hungarian, made ground breaking discoveries regarding childbed fever [puerperal fever] in the 1800s. He never truly was recognized or his work acknowledged because the medical establishment harassed and scorned his work. Pasteur is also discussed, particularly with regards to his work on rabies; but sadly he is an example of a scientist that would lie and cheat, in order to get recognition. The story of Galileo from even earlier time is briefly sketched out.
I rated I Told You So! 4 stars, and recommend that anyone interested in the topic of how science actually gets done read this book. I intend to buy a copy for family members that are an MD/PhD and a biomedical researcher once this is published. I took off a star, mostly because of the book’s organization. The author, continuously goes back and forth revisiting his key stories. I found the structure difficult to understand at times. The draft that I read did not have any chapter titles, and it was unclear what the structure of the book’s premise was throughout.
Some of the other books that are in this vein, that I also recommend include:
• Paul Offit’s Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong
• Marty Makary’s Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets it Wrong and What it Means for our Health
• Alice Domurat Dreger’s Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science
The Offit and Makary books are organized with a story per chapter which is a structure that I easily understood. I do not remember the structure of the Dreger book. Despite this quibble, and understanding that this might be changed in the final product, I definitely recommend Kaplan’s book.
The author, Matt Kaplan, is a trained paleontologist that left the world of academia for journalism and has been a science correspondent for The Economist covering biology for 20 years. Kaplan knows the subject manner and is able to tell his stories in a way that is easily understood by a non-scientific reader [myself, for example]. The book has a major theme that established scientists often do a variety of despicable things to maintain the status quo. The reason for this is manyfold: new ideas might result in loss of status, or bias against woman or scientists from less prestigious backgrounds or training. Science is supposed to work by challenging ideas and trying to replicate previous work. Kaplan argues that many advances in medicine have been delayed because of this tendency to minimize new ideas. A subplot to the book is that how research is funded, and reported, has the effect of minimizing new ideas. If you have been previously published, if you come from a renowned university, etc., you are more likely to get new funding or to have your papers published. Kaplan ends the book with a number of suggestions of how publications and funding can overcome these problems.
His case is made by retelling a number of stories, both contemporary and historical. The story of Katalin Kariko is up to the minute. A Hungarian born researcher at University of Pennsylvania, she was harassed, demoted, and fired because she was not getting funded or published. Of course, lack of support from the university had something to do with that. Her research which she had to complete elsewhere was instrumental to the Covid vaccinations and she received the Nobel prize in medicine in 2023. Fortunately for us, her treatment at UPenn did not prevent her breakthrough. Other scientists, who we may never know, have not been so lucky.
A scientist from more historical times, Iganz Semmelweis, also Hungarian, made ground breaking discoveries regarding childbed fever [puerperal fever] in the 1800s. He never truly was recognized or his work acknowledged because the medical establishment harassed and scorned his work. Pasteur is also discussed, particularly with regards to his work on rabies; but sadly he is an example of a scientist that would lie and cheat, in order to get recognition. The story of Galileo from even earlier time is briefly sketched out.
I rated I Told You So! 4 stars, and recommend that anyone interested in the topic of how science actually gets done read this book. I intend to buy a copy for family members that are an MD/PhD and a biomedical researcher once this is published. I took off a star, mostly because of the book’s organization. The author, continuously goes back and forth revisiting his key stories. I found the structure difficult to understand at times. The draft that I read did not have any chapter titles, and it was unclear what the structure of the book’s premise was throughout.
Some of the other books that are in this vein, that I also recommend include:
• Paul Offit’s Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong
• Marty Makary’s Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets it Wrong and What it Means for our Health
• Alice Domurat Dreger’s Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science
The Offit and Makary books are organized with a story per chapter which is a structure that I easily understood. I do not remember the structure of the Dreger book. Despite this quibble, and understanding that this might be changed in the final product, I definitely recommend Kaplan’s book.
November 1, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
This isn’t my usual go to genre, but as a total mood reader, I sometimes get pulled into nonfiction and I Told You So! by Matt Kaplan definitely caught my interest. The mix of science and the history of scientific discovery really pulled me in. You definitely have to read with an open mind, but Kaplan does such a great job of keeping things clear and approachable. I never felt lost or overwhelmed by the science, it was fascinating and easy to follow. One of my favorite parts was the endnotes! They added so much depth and had me looking up topics online just to learn more. Overall, if you enjoy nonfiction or have even a slight interest in science, I’d highly recommend picking this one up. It’s smart, engaging, and full of “wow, I didn’t know that” moments. Thanks to @StMartinsPress for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review. Pub Date: February 26,2026
#SMPEarlyReaders #BookReview #NonfictionReads #ScienceBooks #Bookstagram #ReadersOfInstagram #BookLovers #HistoryOfScience #SmartReads #BookCommunity #ReadersChoice
This isn’t my usual go to genre, but as a total mood reader, I sometimes get pulled into nonfiction and I Told You So! by Matt Kaplan definitely caught my interest. The mix of science and the history of scientific discovery really pulled me in. You definitely have to read with an open mind, but Kaplan does such a great job of keeping things clear and approachable. I never felt lost or overwhelmed by the science, it was fascinating and easy to follow. One of my favorite parts was the endnotes! They added so much depth and had me looking up topics online just to learn more. Overall, if you enjoy nonfiction or have even a slight interest in science, I’d highly recommend picking this one up. It’s smart, engaging, and full of “wow, I didn’t know that” moments. Thanks to @StMartinsPress for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review. Pub Date: February 26,2026
#SMPEarlyReaders #BookReview #NonfictionReads #ScienceBooks #Bookstagram #ReadersOfInstagram #BookLovers #HistoryOfScience #SmartReads #BookCommunity #ReadersChoice
November 22, 2025
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I Told You So! by Matt Kaplan is an accessibly written science history book about some of the counter thinkers in a few scientific disciplines…who all found themselves victorious in their new discoveries. The author makes several selections, from the classic Galileo to the current Katia Karikò and her contributions to mRNA technology.
Kaplan has a talent for mining the great annals of science for several interesting subjects for the story. He casts a wide ranging net, from hand-washing to Dinosaur DNA. This shows that this is a persistent phenomenon across the scientific fields and that it’s happened throughout scientific history. The book is meticulously cited, with robust references and personal interviews with some of the books living subjects.
Kaplan is also very aware of the reasons why scientific innovation may not get advanced. Besides the major “people are scared of what they believe being changed” he does give ample time talking about personal vendettas and biases against gender, religion, migrant status, etc. I thought that he was very generous in his coverage of the different reasons why people can be hesitant to change, even if they think of themselves as very facts and innovation oriented.
The narrative flow of this book is worth mentioning. Rather than a chapter per scientist as some pop science texts seem to favor, the author tries to do an overlapping ongoing narrative that pulls between the scientists. It’s an ambitious choice that I liked in theory, but details can get lost between the shingling of the past and the present.
For me, my main criticism of the book is the author’s own presence looms very large throughout the story. He’s making glib remarks in footnotes, and adding his own personal anecdotes. The author’s intrusions don’t add much to the story except to remind us that 1. The author is very smart. 2. The author’s a journalist now, but like, A SMART ONE. If you like a story where the author disappears into the fact and the story, this isn’t it. While at times I thought that some of his insight as a personal interviewer or scientific journal reader was helpful, I felt he overused his own character.
I would give this book a 4/5 as arranged currently. I really do think a story style that was more linear in the narrative with maybe comparative chapters after the fact would have been a more straightforward read. I think that if you aren’t someone who enjoys having to keep track of a large number of dates and events, you may not rate it so highly. But as a historical/pop science option I thought it was a well done read that was very interesting (and somewhat exasperating, on behalf of our scientists.)
I Told You So! by Matt Kaplan is an accessibly written science history book about some of the counter thinkers in a few scientific disciplines…who all found themselves victorious in their new discoveries. The author makes several selections, from the classic Galileo to the current Katia Karikò and her contributions to mRNA technology.
Kaplan has a talent for mining the great annals of science for several interesting subjects for the story. He casts a wide ranging net, from hand-washing to Dinosaur DNA. This shows that this is a persistent phenomenon across the scientific fields and that it’s happened throughout scientific history. The book is meticulously cited, with robust references and personal interviews with some of the books living subjects.
Kaplan is also very aware of the reasons why scientific innovation may not get advanced. Besides the major “people are scared of what they believe being changed” he does give ample time talking about personal vendettas and biases against gender, religion, migrant status, etc. I thought that he was very generous in his coverage of the different reasons why people can be hesitant to change, even if they think of themselves as very facts and innovation oriented.
The narrative flow of this book is worth mentioning. Rather than a chapter per scientist as some pop science texts seem to favor, the author tries to do an overlapping ongoing narrative that pulls between the scientists. It’s an ambitious choice that I liked in theory, but details can get lost between the shingling of the past and the present.
For me, my main criticism of the book is the author’s own presence looms very large throughout the story. He’s making glib remarks in footnotes, and adding his own personal anecdotes. The author’s intrusions don’t add much to the story except to remind us that 1. The author is very smart. 2. The author’s a journalist now, but like, A SMART ONE. If you like a story where the author disappears into the fact and the story, this isn’t it. While at times I thought that some of his insight as a personal interviewer or scientific journal reader was helpful, I felt he overused his own character.
I would give this book a 4/5 as arranged currently. I really do think a story style that was more linear in the narrative with maybe comparative chapters after the fact would have been a more straightforward read. I think that if you aren’t someone who enjoys having to keep track of a large number of dates and events, you may not rate it so highly. But as a historical/pop science option I thought it was a well done read that was very interesting (and somewhat exasperating, on behalf of our scientists.)
February 15, 2026
Thank you, NetGalley, for granting me a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
What I thought this book would be A history of scientists who were ridiculed, exiled, and imprisoned for devising unpopular theories that were later proven right.
What this book turned out to be A scatterbrained analysis of all the ways the science field is broken, interspersed with personal anecdotes, awkward humor, and way too much time allotted to puerperal fever.
I Told You So (cue bango) is neither a history book nor a science book, but rather a long expose on how sociopathic the average scientist is. There’s some value here as a work of journalism, I suppose, along with a dash of psychology. But unless you’re extremely interested in how doctors spent hundreds of years refusing accept that they were unwittingly spreading lethal disease to new mothers, then you’re not going to find much information pertaining to what this book purports to be about. (Dear booksellers: please stop doing that.)
What I thought this book would be A history of scientists who were ridiculed, exiled, and imprisoned for devising unpopular theories that were later proven right.
What this book turned out to be A scatterbrained analysis of all the ways the science field is broken, interspersed with personal anecdotes, awkward humor, and way too much time allotted to puerperal fever.
I Told You So (cue bango) is neither a history book nor a science book, but rather a long expose on how sociopathic the average scientist is. There’s some value here as a work of journalism, I suppose, along with a dash of psychology. But unless you’re extremely interested in how doctors spent hundreds of years refusing accept that they were unwittingly spreading lethal disease to new mothers, then you’re not going to find much information pertaining to what this book purports to be about. (Dear booksellers: please stop doing that.)
January 5, 2026
Definitely an interesting read! It was so fun learning about the early history of medicine and the pushback doctors received for going against established practices vs. modern day versions of the science community being closed minded. Science has always been my favorite subject and I feel like this book does well by not being boring or a drag to read. Many nonfiction books can be yawn inducing or just straight confusing but the author does a good job at making the book suitable for more people than just science nerds.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (eARC) and Macmillan Audio (ALC) for providing me with advanced copies.
This was an interesting read but not really what I expected. I went in without reading the synopsis and just by the cover caption, I assumed that this would be about historic scientific figures from a few centuries ago. But, it was a mix of modern and historic scientists. I learnt a lot of info that I hadn't heard of before. The book also wasn't split into chapters by scientists, rather had parallel comparisons of their work which was done quite well. I had two major issues with this book. From midway through the book it mostly became a rant about research funding and grants and how the current fund allocation system causes problems. I agree with these views but that's not what I was reading this book for. The author also keeps talking about himself and his work too much which took me out of the flow at times. Apart from these, I really liked the book. It was definitely well written. I would recommend this to anyone looking to read/learn about some scientific history.
The narrator did a great job with this book. I did like the expressions he put into this book.
This was an interesting read but not really what I expected. I went in without reading the synopsis and just by the cover caption, I assumed that this would be about historic scientific figures from a few centuries ago. But, it was a mix of modern and historic scientists. I learnt a lot of info that I hadn't heard of before. The book also wasn't split into chapters by scientists, rather had parallel comparisons of their work which was done quite well. I had two major issues with this book. From midway through the book it mostly became a rant about research funding and grants and how the current fund allocation system causes problems. I agree with these views but that's not what I was reading this book for. The author also keeps talking about himself and his work too much which took me out of the flow at times. Apart from these, I really liked the book. It was definitely well written. I would recommend this to anyone looking to read/learn about some scientific history.
The narrator did a great job with this book. I did like the expressions he put into this book.
December 8, 2025
This is a wonderful book about scientists and their revolutionary ideas and how they had to fight to get them accepted by mainstream science. It mainly focuses on the fight to defeat a particularly horrible illness that killed women after childbirth but there are many other stories sprinkled in between sections about that.
If there’s one thing that nonfiction books about scientists have taught me is that they can be incredibly stubborn and fixed in their ways. Once they know that a thing is right it’s right dang it I don’t care what “evidence” you have saying I’m wrong. I mean they do have the ability to change but oh man are you going to have to fight for it. Doctors can be worse. Who would have thought it would take them so long to realize that hey, maybe we should be cleaning our hands and our instruments and our clothes. Maybe this years old gore is bad for people? Maybe I shouldn’t touch a dead body and then immediately deliver a baby?
Overall I really liked this book. It’s well researched, paced; and written. There was a ton of info in here that I didn’t know about and learning about it was a really good time. Recommend for all fans of nonfiction and readers in general.
If there’s one thing that nonfiction books about scientists have taught me is that they can be incredibly stubborn and fixed in their ways. Once they know that a thing is right it’s right dang it I don’t care what “evidence” you have saying I’m wrong. I mean they do have the ability to change but oh man are you going to have to fight for it. Doctors can be worse. Who would have thought it would take them so long to realize that hey, maybe we should be cleaning our hands and our instruments and our clothes. Maybe this years old gore is bad for people? Maybe I shouldn’t touch a dead body and then immediately deliver a baby?
Overall I really liked this book. It’s well researched, paced; and written. There was a ton of info in here that I didn’t know about and learning about it was a really good time. Recommend for all fans of nonfiction and readers in general.
December 3, 2025
Really enjoyed this! I loved the format of having one grander narrative and main contributors to the narrative, but then interspersing new landmarks of the topic and important historical figures as it went on; it really provided a more engaging and digestible reading experience. I find a lot of non-fiction to stray either too textbook or the opposite which is too anecdotal, and I felt like this book really nailed the balance of incorporating both methods and meshing the styles of storytelling together well.
I think the grander topic maybe could’ve used a more concise conclusion, but other than that I think this is a great non-fiction read for anyone who loves to learn about new topics and major underdogs in history.
I think the grander topic maybe could’ve used a more concise conclusion, but other than that I think this is a great non-fiction read for anyone who loves to learn about new topics and major underdogs in history.
December 27, 2025
I Told You So! by Matt Kaplan provides a well researched and interesting discussion of scientists throughout history who were right and experienced considerable difficulties for standing by their ideas. The author points out systemic issues within society as well as the medical and scientific communities themselves over time and cross culturally that can make it more difficult for new ideas, especially those that challenge the status quo, to be heard and accepted. Examples range from the Galileo's discovery that the earth revolves around the sun to the more recent Katalin Kariko and her contributions to mRNA technology that made the life saving Covid-19 vaccine possible.
I enjoyed this book immensely, it is accessible for the lay reader without a science or medical background, recommend as a must read for all!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC in return for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Matt Kaplan’s I Told You So is a deep dive into everything that is wrong about the scientific process. How this is endemic not just now but has persisted for centuries in different forms is terrifying. It is told in an absolutely delightful way.
As someone that originally started in the scientific world of paleontology before transitioning to being a scientific journalist, Kaplan addresses this issue for the reader in layman’s terms (or punter terms, if you’re not smart enough to Cambridge-and I’m probably not), laying out examples in history and similar problems being faced by modern day scientists in advancing our knowledge of the world.
Unfortunately for all of us, there are a lot of things still being done in scientific fields right now that are detrimental, and fixing them is going to be really hard, though he does present paths forward as a conclusion to the book. Problems include, but are no means limited to: scientists wanting to maintain the status quo even if evidence suggests it’s not valid, undermining a rival to be credited with a discovery, taking credit for a student’s work or destroying their career for exposing unethical or fraudulent behavior, engaging in fraudulent behavior or reporting fraudulent information to secure grant money or prestige, refusing to publish research papers by rivals, or killing people in pursuit of scientific advancement and not disclosing it because it doesn’t fit your narrative (cough, cough, Pasteur).
That list doesn’t even include things that aren’t unethical but still undermine scientific advancement like the time students and researchers spend writing grants instead of doing research or doing research that doesn’t raise the bar or is repetitive because reporting on attempts to replicate an experiment aren’t published. It doesn’t include discrimination against women, minorities or foreigners whose main strike against them isn’t their ability to do quality research, but rather that they aren’t white men from wealthy, first world countries.
Scientists even suffer the consequences of not being charismatic, persuasive or socially engaged.
Kaplan explores some modern examples of how researchers faced uphill battles to have themselves and their work taken seriously. One is an antisocial, cranky man who is responsible for the restructuring of the branches of biological kingdoms. One is a woman who discovered that soft tissue, including red bloods cells, can be preserved in the paleontological record. And the last one? A woman destroyed by her first adviser for pursuing another academic opportunity, then bounced around UPenn before they finally found a way to eliminate her position. Because of her unwillingness to give up on her research, we got an mRNA vaccine (don’t even get me started on the political divide on this) that helped make the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic unheard of in ancient times; she got a Nobel Prize in Medicine for her work.
One of Kaplan’s points throughout the book is that many of the challenges scientists face nowadays are not new ones. A running historical theme throughout the book is that of a Dr. Semmelweis in 18th century Austria, who discovers a cause for pregnant women dying of puerperal fever in the days after childbirth-and a highly effective means for preventing it. Throughout the course of the book, Kaplan references this to show the deadly consequences of scientific rivalry (Semmelweis did not have a good relationship with his boss Dr. Klein, who was perfectly content to chalk up deaths that could have been prevented to being an unfortunate consequence of childbirth and collect his paycheck), the unintended consequences of fellow scientists supporting a discovery but not fully understanding it, discovering that a discovery is even more complicated, and thus more challenging to explain than initially assumed, and not having the type of personality to publicly fight for and defend your findings.
Along the way he also showcases several other prominent scientists in history that made the system work for them or didn’t, including Oliver Wendell Holmes (father to the Supreme Court justice), Louis Pasteur, Galileo, Lister and Charles Darwin. The moral of this story is that Darwin was smart in multiple ways, Galileo wasn’t quite as clever as he hoped (though he made a pretty good run at it), Lister used his role as a teacher to disseminate his knowledge when his rivals tried to silence him, and Pasteur was a smart man but an awful human being.
I could probably continue to go on with what is already a long review, but I’ll finish with this is a fascinating, horrifying, digestible look at what is broken in the scientific field that should worry us not just with the state of science today but the alarm that it raises for the future if we aren’t willing to fix the way we do science.
Quite possibly the only thing I could complain about is that the fields Kaplan covers are heavily weighted towards paleontology, biology, genetics and medicine and I would have been interested to see more about the implications for other fields of science too.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As someone that originally started in the scientific world of paleontology before transitioning to being a scientific journalist, Kaplan addresses this issue for the reader in layman’s terms (or punter terms, if you’re not smart enough to Cambridge-and I’m probably not), laying out examples in history and similar problems being faced by modern day scientists in advancing our knowledge of the world.
Unfortunately for all of us, there are a lot of things still being done in scientific fields right now that are detrimental, and fixing them is going to be really hard, though he does present paths forward as a conclusion to the book. Problems include, but are no means limited to: scientists wanting to maintain the status quo even if evidence suggests it’s not valid, undermining a rival to be credited with a discovery, taking credit for a student’s work or destroying their career for exposing unethical or fraudulent behavior, engaging in fraudulent behavior or reporting fraudulent information to secure grant money or prestige, refusing to publish research papers by rivals, or killing people in pursuit of scientific advancement and not disclosing it because it doesn’t fit your narrative (cough, cough, Pasteur).
That list doesn’t even include things that aren’t unethical but still undermine scientific advancement like the time students and researchers spend writing grants instead of doing research or doing research that doesn’t raise the bar or is repetitive because reporting on attempts to replicate an experiment aren’t published. It doesn’t include discrimination against women, minorities or foreigners whose main strike against them isn’t their ability to do quality research, but rather that they aren’t white men from wealthy, first world countries.
Scientists even suffer the consequences of not being charismatic, persuasive or socially engaged.
Kaplan explores some modern examples of how researchers faced uphill battles to have themselves and their work taken seriously. One is an antisocial, cranky man who is responsible for the restructuring of the branches of biological kingdoms. One is a woman who discovered that soft tissue, including red bloods cells, can be preserved in the paleontological record. And the last one? A woman destroyed by her first adviser for pursuing another academic opportunity, then bounced around UPenn before they finally found a way to eliminate her position. Because of her unwillingness to give up on her research, we got an mRNA vaccine (don’t even get me started on the political divide on this) that helped make the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic unheard of in ancient times; she got a Nobel Prize in Medicine for her work.
One of Kaplan’s points throughout the book is that many of the challenges scientists face nowadays are not new ones. A running historical theme throughout the book is that of a Dr. Semmelweis in 18th century Austria, who discovers a cause for pregnant women dying of puerperal fever in the days after childbirth-and a highly effective means for preventing it. Throughout the course of the book, Kaplan references this to show the deadly consequences of scientific rivalry (Semmelweis did not have a good relationship with his boss Dr. Klein, who was perfectly content to chalk up deaths that could have been prevented to being an unfortunate consequence of childbirth and collect his paycheck), the unintended consequences of fellow scientists supporting a discovery but not fully understanding it, discovering that a discovery is even more complicated, and thus more challenging to explain than initially assumed, and not having the type of personality to publicly fight for and defend your findings.
Along the way he also showcases several other prominent scientists in history that made the system work for them or didn’t, including Oliver Wendell Holmes (father to the Supreme Court justice), Louis Pasteur, Galileo, Lister and Charles Darwin. The moral of this story is that Darwin was smart in multiple ways, Galileo wasn’t quite as clever as he hoped (though he made a pretty good run at it), Lister used his role as a teacher to disseminate his knowledge when his rivals tried to silence him, and Pasteur was a smart man but an awful human being.
I could probably continue to go on with what is already a long review, but I’ll finish with this is a fascinating, horrifying, digestible look at what is broken in the scientific field that should worry us not just with the state of science today but the alarm that it raises for the future if we aren’t willing to fix the way we do science.
Quite possibly the only thing I could complain about is that the fields Kaplan covers are heavily weighted towards paleontology, biology, genetics and medicine and I would have been interested to see more about the implications for other fields of science too.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book that looks at the problems that science has had in making major changes in thinking, a history that looks at past resistance to why patients were dying, the movement of the planets, and the modern day system of scientific grants styming real scientific investigation.
As I have become older, I have become of two things in life. One, if one thinks the worst has happened, no there is worse coming. And two, people hate change. I noticed this when I first started working, when people would show me how to do things. I never being satisfied always tried new ways of doing things. When I found something that worked better, few would adopt it. Especially in a big business setting. People hate change. In life, in politics, in relationship, and it seems in science. Big thinkers are sometimes pushed to side, ignored, especially if going against accepted thought, especially if one is female, or a minority. I can understand this, I fear software updates with a passion, but that is a whole other problem. However for science, the one who has made to quote Calvin and Hobbes "Scientific Progress Goes"Boink!", this seems at odds with the idea of science. However science, like everything else, has a human factor, one that is both curious, and one that is nostalgic and set in their ways. And their authority. I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right The Economist science correspondent Matt Kaplan, is both a history of science being ignored for going against the prevailing waves, and a modern observation on how change is stifling real progress, and how this could change lives, and not for the best.
Matt Kaplan trained as a both a paleontologist and in medicine before turning to science writing. As science correspondent for The Economist magazine, Kaplan has met many people at the cutting edge of science, and found that sometime the cutting edge isn't as sharp as it could be. The book opens with a conference loaded with angry paleontologists discussing how a woman dared question the ideas that their field held as well sacred. Kaplan could hear the anger, the rage at someone taking accepted science and asking questions. Which to Kaplan seemed wrong. Science should always question, even if the answer are uncomfortable. Kaplan goes back in medical history, discussing the ideas of the body humours and why humans get sick, get better and more. Kaplan looks at a maternity hospital with a terrible fever that killed numerous woman, and how the brave doctor who gave real suggestions was ignored, disgraced, fired, and even worse later. Kaplan looks at the world of scientific grants, and how new ideas are seldom funded, while old ideas continue to get money. Kaplan profiles many in science today who continue to have problems getting their ideas out, ideas that could change many lives.
A fascinating book and one that is very well-written. There are jumps across fields medical, paleontology, COVID research, but Kaplan keeps a very firm hand on the writing, and never losing the reader. As a journalist Kaplan makes everything clear and easy to follow, which sometimes makes the information and situations that Kaplan is describing hit harder. One would like to think of science as a little more forward thinking. However Kaplan soon dissuades readers of that. The profiles are interesting, and makes one wonder what else was lost, what strides were never made, what diseases could be dealt with.
A very well written look at the fact that change is hard for people to grasp. Ego, fear, uncertainty, every human emotion really gets in the way. Kaplan does a good job also of telling what certain people are trying to do, to make changes in both institutions, and in those that fund science. A really different book, but one that I quite enjoyed. I look forward to more by Matt Kaplan.
As I have become older, I have become of two things in life. One, if one thinks the worst has happened, no there is worse coming. And two, people hate change. I noticed this when I first started working, when people would show me how to do things. I never being satisfied always tried new ways of doing things. When I found something that worked better, few would adopt it. Especially in a big business setting. People hate change. In life, in politics, in relationship, and it seems in science. Big thinkers are sometimes pushed to side, ignored, especially if going against accepted thought, especially if one is female, or a minority. I can understand this, I fear software updates with a passion, but that is a whole other problem. However for science, the one who has made to quote Calvin and Hobbes "Scientific Progress Goes"Boink!", this seems at odds with the idea of science. However science, like everything else, has a human factor, one that is both curious, and one that is nostalgic and set in their ways. And their authority. I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right The Economist science correspondent Matt Kaplan, is both a history of science being ignored for going against the prevailing waves, and a modern observation on how change is stifling real progress, and how this could change lives, and not for the best.
Matt Kaplan trained as a both a paleontologist and in medicine before turning to science writing. As science correspondent for The Economist magazine, Kaplan has met many people at the cutting edge of science, and found that sometime the cutting edge isn't as sharp as it could be. The book opens with a conference loaded with angry paleontologists discussing how a woman dared question the ideas that their field held as well sacred. Kaplan could hear the anger, the rage at someone taking accepted science and asking questions. Which to Kaplan seemed wrong. Science should always question, even if the answer are uncomfortable. Kaplan goes back in medical history, discussing the ideas of the body humours and why humans get sick, get better and more. Kaplan looks at a maternity hospital with a terrible fever that killed numerous woman, and how the brave doctor who gave real suggestions was ignored, disgraced, fired, and even worse later. Kaplan looks at the world of scientific grants, and how new ideas are seldom funded, while old ideas continue to get money. Kaplan profiles many in science today who continue to have problems getting their ideas out, ideas that could change many lives.
A fascinating book and one that is very well-written. There are jumps across fields medical, paleontology, COVID research, but Kaplan keeps a very firm hand on the writing, and never losing the reader. As a journalist Kaplan makes everything clear and easy to follow, which sometimes makes the information and situations that Kaplan is describing hit harder. One would like to think of science as a little more forward thinking. However Kaplan soon dissuades readers of that. The profiles are interesting, and makes one wonder what else was lost, what strides were never made, what diseases could be dealt with.
A very well written look at the fact that change is hard for people to grasp. Ego, fear, uncertainty, every human emotion really gets in the way. Kaplan does a good job also of telling what certain people are trying to do, to make changes in both institutions, and in those that fund science. A really different book, but one that I quite enjoyed. I look forward to more by Matt Kaplan.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Feb. 24, 2026
“I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right” by journalist Matt Kaplan is a non-fiction examination of scientists, past and present, who have been punished in some way, either legally or by their own scientific community, for defending their (often opposing) scientific views.
Most of the scientists Kaplan talks about are medical professionals, but he does highlight some other ones, too, such as Galileo, who was jailed and supposedly tortured for expressing his findings. Of course, Kaplan covers historical figures like Galileo and Louis Pasteur, but he ensures that more modern figures are discussed as well, most of them were unfamiliar (at least to me), but not at all irrelevant.
Kaplan is a journalist, so he has writing talent and you can expect “Told” to be engaging and informative. As a scientific journalist specifically, Kaplan’s work is geared to the general public, so “Told” isn’t academically or linguistically heavy. Not only is it educational and entertaining, but it is also thought-provoking, as Kaplan examines scientific trends that have not changed too much over time, leaving brilliant scientific minds scrambling for research and support.
There was a lot in “Told” about the grant writing and reviewing process, which I knew only the bare bones about, which seems to stymie a lot of great researchers, keeping their attention focused on writing and proofing instead of researching. Of course, as in most cases where brilliant people are involved, “Told” definitely talks about the influence of arrogance and ego that play a part in scientific discoveries, and, perhaps the biggest of all, the financial support from political parties and organizations. It should also come as no surprise that sexism and misogyny is a huge component, even to this day, in what scientists are given grants and the colour and race of the scientists that are shown respect and appreciation. Kaplan does his best to ensure all of the barriers to scientific discoveries are relayed to readers as honestly as possible, without being extremely negative or pointing fingers.
“Told” provided me with a lot of information I did not know and I was grateful for it. Sure, I’d heard of Louis Pasteur and his contributions, but his over-the-top ego and the fact that he was “pretty much as asshole” was intriguing. I loved hearing how some of our current treatments and medications came to be, as well as the real pioneers behind them, and the current stories about discoveries made during the modern era were inspiring and haunting all at once.
Kaplan’s book is an eye-opening look into how scientific discoveries are made, and the barriers that face the brilliant minds behind these discoveries. Powerful, engaging and profound, “I Told You So” is deeply thought-provoking and emotional.
Expected publication date: Feb. 24, 2026
“I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right” by journalist Matt Kaplan is a non-fiction examination of scientists, past and present, who have been punished in some way, either legally or by their own scientific community, for defending their (often opposing) scientific views.
Most of the scientists Kaplan talks about are medical professionals, but he does highlight some other ones, too, such as Galileo, who was jailed and supposedly tortured for expressing his findings. Of course, Kaplan covers historical figures like Galileo and Louis Pasteur, but he ensures that more modern figures are discussed as well, most of them were unfamiliar (at least to me), but not at all irrelevant.
Kaplan is a journalist, so he has writing talent and you can expect “Told” to be engaging and informative. As a scientific journalist specifically, Kaplan’s work is geared to the general public, so “Told” isn’t academically or linguistically heavy. Not only is it educational and entertaining, but it is also thought-provoking, as Kaplan examines scientific trends that have not changed too much over time, leaving brilliant scientific minds scrambling for research and support.
There was a lot in “Told” about the grant writing and reviewing process, which I knew only the bare bones about, which seems to stymie a lot of great researchers, keeping their attention focused on writing and proofing instead of researching. Of course, as in most cases where brilliant people are involved, “Told” definitely talks about the influence of arrogance and ego that play a part in scientific discoveries, and, perhaps the biggest of all, the financial support from political parties and organizations. It should also come as no surprise that sexism and misogyny is a huge component, even to this day, in what scientists are given grants and the colour and race of the scientists that are shown respect and appreciation. Kaplan does his best to ensure all of the barriers to scientific discoveries are relayed to readers as honestly as possible, without being extremely negative or pointing fingers.
“Told” provided me with a lot of information I did not know and I was grateful for it. Sure, I’d heard of Louis Pasteur and his contributions, but his over-the-top ego and the fact that he was “pretty much as asshole” was intriguing. I loved hearing how some of our current treatments and medications came to be, as well as the real pioneers behind them, and the current stories about discoveries made during the modern era were inspiring and haunting all at once.
Kaplan’s book is an eye-opening look into how scientific discoveries are made, and the barriers that face the brilliant minds behind these discoveries. Powerful, engaging and profound, “I Told You So” is deeply thought-provoking and emotional.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Interesting History That Can In Fact Comes Across As Extended Ad For Author's Day Job. I was perusing the existing reviews on Goodreads as I sat down to write this review, as is my custom, when I saw a 2 star review mention that this book felt, to that reviewer, at least partially like an extended ad for the author's day job as a science reporter for The Economist and actually agreed with that point in retrospect.
Written almost as much in a memoir style as even a popular science history type book - the author's bread and butter for twenty years now both in articles for The Economist and in books on various topics over the years, if you didn't know (see what I did there? ;) )- this is actually the second book this month I read that dealt with a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweiss and his pioneering antiseptic work in the 19th century, with the other being The Great shadow by Susan Wise Bauer, about the history of sickness and healing more generally whereas Kaplan's text here focuses more on how right Semelweiss was... and how much a price he paid for being the one man that was beginning to get at least something right in an era when The Establishment (to use a more modern phrase) was oh so very wrong.
Semmelweiss' story is the binder of this narrative, but along the way we encounter a few others similarly situated, from the famous (Galileo, Lister (whom Listerine is named after, to give those who may not be familiar with the name an idea of why it may be significant), and Pasteur, among others) to the more bleeding edge and let's say not-yet-as-globally-famous, even though this modern set has at least one Nobel Prize winner among it and one who was essential in the creation of the COVID 19 vaccine.
The history is well written - as should be expected with someone of Kaplan's experience - and doesn't shy away from relevant facts that may make the historical figures look not so great in modern eyes, yet the modern is, while still well written, perhaps a touch *too* personal, offering insights into Kaplan's own training and direct interactions with some of the subjects he is profiling. This is where the more memoir aspects of the tale kick in, and again, these are still well written and engaging, they just don't share the same psychological distance as is notable when Kaplan is writing of Semmelweiss and others.
Still, the only reason for the star deduction is, as long time readers of my reviews of nonfiction books can probably already guess, a lack of documentation, clocking in at just 12% of the overall text here, just shy of the 15% or so of even my more recent more relaxed expectations on this point after having read quite a few nonfiction Advance Review Copy books over these last eight or so years.
Overall though, the book is truly fascinating and brings to light quite a bit of obscure history of the last few hundred years, and does a great job of making the points Kaplan is trying to make quite clear without veering too deeply into preachiness. Most readers will likely learn quite a bit from reading it, and have a generally pleasant experience doing so.
Very much recommended.
Written almost as much in a memoir style as even a popular science history type book - the author's bread and butter for twenty years now both in articles for The Economist and in books on various topics over the years, if you didn't know (see what I did there? ;) )- this is actually the second book this month I read that dealt with a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweiss and his pioneering antiseptic work in the 19th century, with the other being The Great shadow by Susan Wise Bauer, about the history of sickness and healing more generally whereas Kaplan's text here focuses more on how right Semelweiss was... and how much a price he paid for being the one man that was beginning to get at least something right in an era when The Establishment (to use a more modern phrase) was oh so very wrong.
Semmelweiss' story is the binder of this narrative, but along the way we encounter a few others similarly situated, from the famous (Galileo, Lister (whom Listerine is named after, to give those who may not be familiar with the name an idea of why it may be significant), and Pasteur, among others) to the more bleeding edge and let's say not-yet-as-globally-famous, even though this modern set has at least one Nobel Prize winner among it and one who was essential in the creation of the COVID 19 vaccine.
The history is well written - as should be expected with someone of Kaplan's experience - and doesn't shy away from relevant facts that may make the historical figures look not so great in modern eyes, yet the modern is, while still well written, perhaps a touch *too* personal, offering insights into Kaplan's own training and direct interactions with some of the subjects he is profiling. This is where the more memoir aspects of the tale kick in, and again, these are still well written and engaging, they just don't share the same psychological distance as is notable when Kaplan is writing of Semmelweiss and others.
Still, the only reason for the star deduction is, as long time readers of my reviews of nonfiction books can probably already guess, a lack of documentation, clocking in at just 12% of the overall text here, just shy of the 15% or so of even my more recent more relaxed expectations on this point after having read quite a few nonfiction Advance Review Copy books over these last eight or so years.
Overall though, the book is truly fascinating and brings to light quite a bit of obscure history of the last few hundred years, and does a great job of making the points Kaplan is trying to make quite clear without veering too deeply into preachiness. Most readers will likely learn quite a bit from reading it, and have a generally pleasant experience doing so.
Very much recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I'm not happy about this review, folks, but here we go.
Matt Kaplan has a tremendous book title - I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right. Now, this title inevitably brings schoolkid memories up. Galileo is the first that probably pops in your head. I can confirm that as soon as I posted this on social media, there were multiple people throwing out names of who should be part of this narrative. Unfortunately, that is not this book. Galileo does make an appearance, but for maybe a total of 10 pages in a book a little over 200. This is not a greatest hits of scientists who suffered for their craft and were shown later to be correct. That said, I always say the author gets to tell the story they want, not the one in my head.
Instead, the majority of the book is about Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis. At least, somewhat. Semmelweis was a key scientist in ultimately overcoming the deadly puerperal fever which killed many women after childbirth. However, this story also pulls in Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister. In fact, the story encompasses even more people along the way.
The book also has numerous anecdotes from Kaplan's own reporting for The Economist. There is some mRNA, some paleontology, and lots of science. Here is where I really get disappointed. I really like Kaplan's writing overall. Each of these stories is written with a bit of a wink, and he is an engaging storyteller. The problem is that he wants to tell all the stories in the middle of other stories. Every time I got really into a subject, Kaplan jumps to a different one. I found it maddening because it felt like at least four excellent long form articles jammed together.
I had a hard time deciding if this was a three or four star book. It is engaging, but also frustrating in its delivery. Ultimately, I rounded down because Kaplan's final chapter is about how the science community and its process needs to be addressed. I found myself agreeing with Kaplan generally, but I was unconvinced that his ideas are fully thought through. Like the rest of the book, I felt like he didn't stay focused enough to truly convince me.
If you read the book blurb (not the title alone), and you are interested in this book, I'd say go ahead. My problem was with the delivery method, not the style or the subject. Maybe I am just an old crank like a lot of the scientists in the book.
(This book was provided as an advance review copy by St. Martin's Press.)
Matt Kaplan has a tremendous book title - I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right. Now, this title inevitably brings schoolkid memories up. Galileo is the first that probably pops in your head. I can confirm that as soon as I posted this on social media, there were multiple people throwing out names of who should be part of this narrative. Unfortunately, that is not this book. Galileo does make an appearance, but for maybe a total of 10 pages in a book a little over 200. This is not a greatest hits of scientists who suffered for their craft and were shown later to be correct. That said, I always say the author gets to tell the story they want, not the one in my head.
Instead, the majority of the book is about Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis. At least, somewhat. Semmelweis was a key scientist in ultimately overcoming the deadly puerperal fever which killed many women after childbirth. However, this story also pulls in Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister. In fact, the story encompasses even more people along the way.
The book also has numerous anecdotes from Kaplan's own reporting for The Economist. There is some mRNA, some paleontology, and lots of science. Here is where I really get disappointed. I really like Kaplan's writing overall. Each of these stories is written with a bit of a wink, and he is an engaging storyteller. The problem is that he wants to tell all the stories in the middle of other stories. Every time I got really into a subject, Kaplan jumps to a different one. I found it maddening because it felt like at least four excellent long form articles jammed together.
I had a hard time deciding if this was a three or four star book. It is engaging, but also frustrating in its delivery. Ultimately, I rounded down because Kaplan's final chapter is about how the science community and its process needs to be addressed. I found myself agreeing with Kaplan generally, but I was unconvinced that his ideas are fully thought through. Like the rest of the book, I felt like he didn't stay focused enough to truly convince me.
If you read the book blurb (not the title alone), and you are interested in this book, I'd say go ahead. My problem was with the delivery method, not the style or the subject. Maybe I am just an old crank like a lot of the scientists in the book.
(This book was provided as an advance review copy by St. Martin's Press.)
February 18, 2026
A very solid 3.5 rating for the research, especially from the more historical times--it could have been a 4.0 if the endnotes had a bit more and/or better documentation. Overall, the rating is only a 3.0 for author Matt Kaplan's heavy presence throughout with many of his own anecdotes as well as some glib comments in the foot/endnotes. However, on the other hand, there were times where some of his insight as a scientific journal reader and/or personal interviewer was helpful. But for the most part, it felt more of overuse and overreach of his own character, where it started to read more like a memoir and a trip down memory lane. Perhaps if Kaplan had instead waited to add his thoughts and other comments in an afterward, I would have given a higher rating.
I have read many non-fiction where the author has briefly interjected themselves into their book--but it's few and far between and not taking away from the writing. With that in mind, that's not to say that he doesn't know his subject matter. On the the contrary, Kaplan has many years experiences in the field, starting out in the paleontology world and changing fields into biology as a science correspondent for The Economist magazine with 20 years under his belt. Not having read any of his work in The Economist, perhaps that is just his writing style as a journalist. The biggest thing he has going for him, is that he does write so that someone with little to no experience with science can easily understand making the writing style easy for anyone with little to no experience or knowledge to understand and not feel bored nor frustrated.
Before I go further, I would like to thank Sara Beth Haring from St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and the author, Matt Kaplan, for providing this advance review copy (ARC) for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
As mentioned before, the writing style and narrative was not like a typical non-fiction work, besides where Kaplan has inserted himself into the story. Instead of choosing a scientist to focus upon for each chapter, the author overlaps the narrative comparing and contrasting more than one scientist. That style took a little bit to get used to, as sometimes the details would get lost between past and present and contemporary. And if not reading this book cover to cover in one sitting, sometimes there was a need to go back and re-read parts.
The central scientist/doctor that Kaplan focused his work on was Iganz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor in 1800s Austria, who was a pioneer in obstetrics and recognized the cause behind puerperal fever (childbed fever in the days following childbirth) and a highly effective means to prevent it. However Semmelweis' work was never acknowledged due to scientific rivalry (Kaplan's "theme") with his boss Dr. Klein, who merely was satisfied to collect a check and allow patients to die and would rather scorn Semmelweis. Among other scientists the reader may be familiar include Pasteur, particularly his work on rabies and what he did to get recognized (I won't spoil it here, but just say I was surprised, given what little I learned in school), Lister, Darwin, and Galileo--again, the reader might learn something not taught in the history books.
Kaplan shows how scientists and doctors can be quite stubborn and fixed in their ways, slow and quite hesitant to change through Semmelweis' experiences all the way to modern day scientists and doctors. Additionally, Kaplan makes sure to talk at length (from about midway on) about research grants and funding, plus fear of failure being a barrier to discovery and how this continues to be an ongoing problem in the field. The way the author focuses upon this as a conclusion, offering his own ways to improve upon a broken system, seemed to this reader to be the main reason for writing I Told You So, using the anecdotes to prove his "thesis."
Despite all of the aforementioned points, I still very much recommend reading this book for anyone who loves learning about more obscure history in this field, especially the story about Semmelweis and Pasteur (you might be surprised!). Plus, it does offer almost an insider's view on how challenging the science profession can be. Oh, and without spoiling it, the section about mice and blood was especially interesting, given how long the way they have been used in the labs.
I have read many non-fiction where the author has briefly interjected themselves into their book--but it's few and far between and not taking away from the writing. With that in mind, that's not to say that he doesn't know his subject matter. On the the contrary, Kaplan has many years experiences in the field, starting out in the paleontology world and changing fields into biology as a science correspondent for The Economist magazine with 20 years under his belt. Not having read any of his work in The Economist, perhaps that is just his writing style as a journalist. The biggest thing he has going for him, is that he does write so that someone with little to no experience with science can easily understand making the writing style easy for anyone with little to no experience or knowledge to understand and not feel bored nor frustrated.
Before I go further, I would like to thank Sara Beth Haring from St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and the author, Matt Kaplan, for providing this advance review copy (ARC) for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
As mentioned before, the writing style and narrative was not like a typical non-fiction work, besides where Kaplan has inserted himself into the story. Instead of choosing a scientist to focus upon for each chapter, the author overlaps the narrative comparing and contrasting more than one scientist. That style took a little bit to get used to, as sometimes the details would get lost between past and present and contemporary. And if not reading this book cover to cover in one sitting, sometimes there was a need to go back and re-read parts.
The central scientist/doctor that Kaplan focused his work on was Iganz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor in 1800s Austria, who was a pioneer in obstetrics and recognized the cause behind puerperal fever (childbed fever in the days following childbirth) and a highly effective means to prevent it. However Semmelweis' work was never acknowledged due to scientific rivalry (Kaplan's "theme") with his boss Dr. Klein, who merely was satisfied to collect a check and allow patients to die and would rather scorn Semmelweis. Among other scientists the reader may be familiar include Pasteur, particularly his work on rabies and what he did to get recognized (I won't spoil it here, but just say I was surprised, given what little I learned in school), Lister, Darwin, and Galileo--again, the reader might learn something not taught in the history books.
Kaplan shows how scientists and doctors can be quite stubborn and fixed in their ways, slow and quite hesitant to change through Semmelweis' experiences all the way to modern day scientists and doctors. Additionally, Kaplan makes sure to talk at length (from about midway on) about research grants and funding, plus fear of failure being a barrier to discovery and how this continues to be an ongoing problem in the field. The way the author focuses upon this as a conclusion, offering his own ways to improve upon a broken system, seemed to this reader to be the main reason for writing I Told You So, using the anecdotes to prove his "thesis."
Despite all of the aforementioned points, I still very much recommend reading this book for anyone who loves learning about more obscure history in this field, especially the story about Semmelweis and Pasteur (you might be surprised!). Plus, it does offer almost an insider's view on how challenging the science profession can be. Oh, and without spoiling it, the section about mice and blood was especially interesting, given how long the way they have been used in the labs.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Science is a profession where a person is expected to be wrong. A lot. So what happens when someone is RIGHT, but their conclusions are at odds with everything we believe to be "true?" If science were really completely objective, we'd learn and adjust, but the reality is that there are real people behind every experiment, and people don't like to be wrong.
Kaplan tells the stories of multiple scientists in history that were met with anger when they tried to question the norms of their time. This book spans a vast period of time, stretching from Galileo to more modern examples of the scientists behind the mRNA COVID vaccine. It's informative, giving historical context to discoveries that seem logical now, but shook the foundations of science when they were first proposed. I think Kaplan does a good job of making the history digestible while still offering something new for people familiar with it already. If you enjoy a bit of drama, the letters these middle-aged male scientists were sending to journals channels some of that gossipy Mean Girls energy that made me giggle.
I will say, the book struggles a bit in its conclusion. I understand that it's trying to send a message: funding and fear of failure is posing a barrier to discovery. The extended description of the grant process and proposals for reforming it did feel a bit at odds with the rest of the book. It wasn't jarring by any means, just that it didn't quite match with what I thought the anticipated thesis would be. Based on the title, the intro, and the prior 90% of the book, I expected Kaplan to focus on the personal duty of scientists to strive for objectivity in research. I can't help but feel as though a focus on individual responsibility, rather than a restructuring the systems by which gransts are awarded, would have sat better with the casual reader (whom I presume was his target audience - but what do I know).
Either way, this was a thoroughly entertaining read for the most part. The thesis, while important, couldn't help but go over my head a bit as someone who is less engrained in the production of lab-based research.
Kaplan tells the stories of multiple scientists in history that were met with anger when they tried to question the norms of their time. This book spans a vast period of time, stretching from Galileo to more modern examples of the scientists behind the mRNA COVID vaccine. It's informative, giving historical context to discoveries that seem logical now, but shook the foundations of science when they were first proposed. I think Kaplan does a good job of making the history digestible while still offering something new for people familiar with it already. If you enjoy a bit of drama, the letters these middle-aged male scientists were sending to journals channels some of that gossipy Mean Girls energy that made me giggle.
I will say, the book struggles a bit in its conclusion. I understand that it's trying to send a message: funding and fear of failure is posing a barrier to discovery. The extended description of the grant process and proposals for reforming it did feel a bit at odds with the rest of the book. It wasn't jarring by any means, just that it didn't quite match with what I thought the anticipated thesis would be. Based on the title, the intro, and the prior 90% of the book, I expected Kaplan to focus on the personal duty of scientists to strive for objectivity in research. I can't help but feel as though a focus on individual responsibility, rather than a restructuring the systems by which gransts are awarded, would have sat better with the casual reader (whom I presume was his target audience - but what do I know).
Either way, this was a thoroughly entertaining read for the most part. The thesis, while important, couldn't help but go over my head a bit as someone who is less engrained in the production of lab-based research.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.5 out of 5 stars
This book frustrated me in ways I did not expect, and surprisingly, not in a bad way. Matt Kaplan’s writing brings history to life, and I found myself being frustrated with the actions (or lack thereof) of people who have long since passed. Even with this frustration, I enjoyed every moment of this book.
Throughout history and even into today, scientists, collectively, have theories they believe to be true without question, and they become defensive if anyone threatens those beliefs. These theories are generally believed by the vast majority of the field, and many researchers have put years into writing papers supporting those beliefs. So, when those beliefs are questioned, years of work for those people are put into danger and the scientists fight back. In “I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right,” Matt Kaplan explores specific instances where someone dared to question the commonly held beliefs of scientists and doctors and how those people suffered for their interference.
Kaplan does a thorough job in his examination of ridiculed scientists over time. I expected to read about various scientists discussed in a case by case basis, but Kaplan brought all of his examples together and even tied them to the current state of science. I particularly enjoyed the structure of this book. The way Kaplan weaved the history of Dr. Semmelweis and his fight to discover the cause of Puerperal fever and the challenges he faced from other doctors throughout the book kept me intrigued. I also enjoyed how his analysis covered different branches of science. His discussion mostly focused on paleontology and medicine, but it is interesting to see how the issue of ego and the threat to existing ideas branches out through numerous sciences.
If you are interested in history or science, then I highly suggest you pick up this book. Kaplan’s writing gives an interesting account of a specific niche in history and brings a new light to well known people and fields of science.
This book frustrated me in ways I did not expect, and surprisingly, not in a bad way. Matt Kaplan’s writing brings history to life, and I found myself being frustrated with the actions (or lack thereof) of people who have long since passed. Even with this frustration, I enjoyed every moment of this book.
Throughout history and even into today, scientists, collectively, have theories they believe to be true without question, and they become defensive if anyone threatens those beliefs. These theories are generally believed by the vast majority of the field, and many researchers have put years into writing papers supporting those beliefs. So, when those beliefs are questioned, years of work for those people are put into danger and the scientists fight back. In “I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right,” Matt Kaplan explores specific instances where someone dared to question the commonly held beliefs of scientists and doctors and how those people suffered for their interference.
Kaplan does a thorough job in his examination of ridiculed scientists over time. I expected to read about various scientists discussed in a case by case basis, but Kaplan brought all of his examples together and even tied them to the current state of science. I particularly enjoyed the structure of this book. The way Kaplan weaved the history of Dr. Semmelweis and his fight to discover the cause of Puerperal fever and the challenges he faced from other doctors throughout the book kept me intrigued. I also enjoyed how his analysis covered different branches of science. His discussion mostly focused on paleontology and medicine, but it is interesting to see how the issue of ego and the threat to existing ideas branches out through numerous sciences.
If you are interested in history or science, then I highly suggest you pick up this book. Kaplan’s writing gives an interesting account of a specific niche in history and brings a new light to well known people and fields of science.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, for which I thank them.
“I Told You So” is by Matt Kaplan. This is a non-fiction book about science and academia. But, Mr. Kaplan puts a twist on both - the science is about the people you don’t often hear about - the contemporary of Pasteur, the contemporary of the doctor who suggested hand washing - along with the “games” involved in academia regarding grants, publishing papers, and not rocking academic boats. While that’s all pretty interesting, Mr. Kaplan also interjects stories of his own life - from academia to freelance writing to his current job as the Science writer for The Economist. I must admit, I’ve never read one of his articles, but they seem to cover vast and interesting topics. On the whole, I think this book was an interesting one - but at times I struggled reading it. Mr. Kaplan doesn’t tell his stories in a linear fashion - the stories are sprinkled about and he interrupts current stories with other stories - sometimes making me have to recall who he was talking about when. If you can easily keep track of storylines like that, then you’ll have an easier time than I did. Are the stories interesting? Yes, though I have mixed feelings about his asides (fortunately mostly in footnotes that can be skipped). About 22% of the book at the end is footnotes/references. As for the sections on academia, there is a lot of pressure on scientists or researchers to produce money for the institution at which they work, which can be frustrating when you’re working on something but no one wants to give you money to further your research. At times it also came across that it’s an “old boys” club, which is difficult - if not impossible - for females and immigrants to break through without support from respected people in the field. Overall, an interesting read - and if this seems to be of interest, I’d say go for it (though I will admit, the subtitle made me think of Galileo, who was briefly mentioned, so that was a little bit of a disappointment). 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars.
“I Told You So” is by Matt Kaplan. This is a non-fiction book about science and academia. But, Mr. Kaplan puts a twist on both - the science is about the people you don’t often hear about - the contemporary of Pasteur, the contemporary of the doctor who suggested hand washing - along with the “games” involved in academia regarding grants, publishing papers, and not rocking academic boats. While that’s all pretty interesting, Mr. Kaplan also interjects stories of his own life - from academia to freelance writing to his current job as the Science writer for The Economist. I must admit, I’ve never read one of his articles, but they seem to cover vast and interesting topics. On the whole, I think this book was an interesting one - but at times I struggled reading it. Mr. Kaplan doesn’t tell his stories in a linear fashion - the stories are sprinkled about and he interrupts current stories with other stories - sometimes making me have to recall who he was talking about when. If you can easily keep track of storylines like that, then you’ll have an easier time than I did. Are the stories interesting? Yes, though I have mixed feelings about his asides (fortunately mostly in footnotes that can be skipped). About 22% of the book at the end is footnotes/references. As for the sections on academia, there is a lot of pressure on scientists or researchers to produce money for the institution at which they work, which can be frustrating when you’re working on something but no one wants to give you money to further your research. At times it also came across that it’s an “old boys” club, which is difficult - if not impossible - for females and immigrants to break through without support from respected people in the field. Overall, an interesting read - and if this seems to be of interest, I’d say go for it (though I will admit, the subtitle made me think of Galileo, who was briefly mentioned, so that was a little bit of a disappointment). 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I am someone who does not study science. I don't work in the industry. In fact, I am a marketing girl to my core. However, I love learning. I particularly am drawn to historical nonfiction books, such as this one. I think it is incredibly important to read outside of your comfort zone, which is why I was excited to pick this one up.
I particularly enjoyed Kaplan's talent for writing complex topics into digestible information. While a lot of larger or more complicated details went over my head, I was able to understand the point behind it all. Also, he was able to keep interest the entire time by switching between stories, times, and types of experiments being run throughout history. I think it's all a fantastic feat.
The true meaning behind this book for me was to show that common themes run rampant in the scientific community throughout history. These themes are rather harmful because they prioritize keeping with what is known. Those who bring up questions about things that were already decided or are outside of the status quo have been shunned. In some instances, such as if you are inadvertently responsible for hundreds of deaths of mothers during childbirth, are understandable because your brain cannot comprehend that, but in the end, science is supposed to be about progressing forward. New ideas should be encouraged, not bullied away.
I applaud Kaplan for writing this and bringing these themes to light. It's a fascinating book. I hope it makes waves through the scientific community, but I also want to note that these are themes common in every industry and community. It's in our nature as humans to conform to a community, to not have our beliefs tested, but these should be celebrated.
Thank you to the author and publisher for my arc in exchange for my honest review.
I particularly enjoyed Kaplan's talent for writing complex topics into digestible information. While a lot of larger or more complicated details went over my head, I was able to understand the point behind it all. Also, he was able to keep interest the entire time by switching between stories, times, and types of experiments being run throughout history. I think it's all a fantastic feat.
The true meaning behind this book for me was to show that common themes run rampant in the scientific community throughout history. These themes are rather harmful because they prioritize keeping with what is known. Those who bring up questions about things that were already decided or are outside of the status quo have been shunned. In some instances, such as if you are inadvertently responsible for hundreds of deaths of mothers during childbirth, are understandable because your brain cannot comprehend that, but in the end, science is supposed to be about progressing forward. New ideas should be encouraged, not bullied away.
I applaud Kaplan for writing this and bringing these themes to light. It's a fascinating book. I hope it makes waves through the scientific community, but I also want to note that these are themes common in every industry and community. It's in our nature as humans to conform to a community, to not have our beliefs tested, but these should be celebrated.
Thank you to the author and publisher for my arc in exchange for my honest review.
December 8, 2025
This book was not exactly what I was expecting. It does include numerous cases of scientists that were dismissed, only to be proven right eventually, but it is also about the scientific method and the system that allows it to happen. As an avid reader of popular science books, I’ve heard about germ theory and how it was discovered that doctors were inadvertently infecting women in labor after working with cadavers. It all sounded fast and easy. Kaplan follows this case as a backbone for this volume and it took a long time and the influence of many visionaries. There were also detractors who tried to stop them. The author applies examples from this to many other cases, from Galileo to the Covid vaccine. He demystifies legends of the field (Pasteur has been a hero in my family since my great-grandfather saw him as an inspiration for his medical career - I was devastated to find out what a horrible person he was). As with most books about medicine, it also includes animal experimentation and many gruesome cases of cruelty, so reader beware. That said, a large part of the chapters was not too interesting to me. Not being a scientist, I only needed a few lines about how funding works, not a deep dive into grants, scholarships and authorship in science journals. As a journalist, Kaplan writes flawlessly, so I was surprised at how he kept summarizing the stories, which made a little slow and repetitive for me. Maybe more scientific-minded readers will enjoy it more. I’m just a punter.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
“I Told You So” should be read by all scientists/researchers, as well as government officials and private sector employees who are involved in funding or promoting research or utilizing the benefits of scientific research. The author provides numerous examples of scientists whose ideas were disregarded if not outright vilified (often accompanied by vilification of the scientist as well) because they challenged existing theories and their ideas were viewed as threats to the personal and professional prestige of others. However, those challenging the orthodoxy are sometimes right.
One of the worst stories involved Katalin Kariko and her research involving mRNA. It was her research, along with research by her colleague Drew Weissman, that enabled mRNA vaccines for Covid to be developed so quickly. However, she labored for decades trying to get her research to be taken seriously, being mistreated by supervisors and the university where she worked (which has recently been happy to boast about its connection to her and Mr. Weissman since they won the Nobel Prize).
The author provides considerable discussion about the various issues, many of which are financial or reputational in nature, that hinder scientific discoveries from being made and hinder novel ideas being shared and expanded upon, as well as numerous suggestions for what is being done or could be done to improve the situation and enhance the quality of scientific research. He doesn’t claim to have all the answers, and he acknowledges arguments that have been made against some of the possible solutions he discusses. However, he certainly gives the reader plenty to think about.
One of the worst stories involved Katalin Kariko and her research involving mRNA. It was her research, along with research by her colleague Drew Weissman, that enabled mRNA vaccines for Covid to be developed so quickly. However, she labored for decades trying to get her research to be taken seriously, being mistreated by supervisors and the university where she worked (which has recently been happy to boast about its connection to her and Mr. Weissman since they won the Nobel Prize).
The author provides considerable discussion about the various issues, many of which are financial or reputational in nature, that hinder scientific discoveries from being made and hinder novel ideas being shared and expanded upon, as well as numerous suggestions for what is being done or could be done to improve the situation and enhance the quality of scientific research. He doesn’t claim to have all the answers, and he acknowledges arguments that have been made against some of the possible solutions he discusses. However, he certainly gives the reader plenty to think about.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
What an (unfortunately) well-suited book for this return of anti-intellectualism. Kaplan tells the story of how science is hobbled by the fear and guilt of those who were wrong, the push to publish, and the yearning for celebrity (if only in your given field). The push to publish not only creates incentive for people to fudge results; it also entrenches these falsified theories into the scientific record and sends more funding after dead ends. The precarity of grant funding and the funders' focus on positive outcomes only pushes culture towards complacent science, barely moving the edges.
Kaplan uses a few examples from history (Pasteur, Semmelweis, Lister, and Karikó--Nobel Laureate for mRNA discoveries) to show us how absurd and selfish their reactionaries were, and we can appreciate them because we are safe in the future knowing these truths were validated. It should remind us of the current environment.
It is exceptionally narrated as an audiobook--conversational and engaging.
For as good as this book is, and for how much I appreciate an author who provides a plan to address the issues he raises, I could not help but think about the absurdity and insult of billionaires who could sneeze and solve the entire research funding issue, for all time. There ARE people to blame here and it seems silly to not mention it while charting a path forward.
Bonus fiction rec of the same mood: Arthur Miller adapted Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play "An Enemy of the People" for his own period in 1950. The jacket copy begins: "What happens when the truth conflicts with the will of the majority?"
Kaplan uses a few examples from history (Pasteur, Semmelweis, Lister, and Karikó--Nobel Laureate for mRNA discoveries) to show us how absurd and selfish their reactionaries were, and we can appreciate them because we are safe in the future knowing these truths were validated. It should remind us of the current environment.
It is exceptionally narrated as an audiobook--conversational and engaging.
For as good as this book is, and for how much I appreciate an author who provides a plan to address the issues he raises, I could not help but think about the absurdity and insult of billionaires who could sneeze and solve the entire research funding issue, for all time. There ARE people to blame here and it seems silly to not mention it while charting a path forward.
Bonus fiction rec of the same mood: Arthur Miller adapted Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play "An Enemy of the People" for his own period in 1950. The jacket copy begins: "What happens when the truth conflicts with the will of the majority?"
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
TL;DR: While fascinating, this read very slowly for me.
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!
Plot: An exploration through different times of scientists and doctors who were shunned or cast out.
Characters: Some of these will be familiar if you’re a history/medical history buff.
Setting: This was definitely western centric, primarily focused in on European and American individuals.
Readability: This is very approachable, but I was snoozing from time to time, I’m not going to lie.
Thoughts:
I love that the first part of the pitch on this calls it ‘energetic’ when that is the complete opposite of my experience. For such a short book I found myself reading it for so long I thought it’d never stop!
This has, do not mistake me, some fascinating and interesting things in it. I had no idea the level of cut-throat, seeming meanness that can be in the scientific/research world. That bit was fascinating and news to me, and on the whole I found the paleontology sections deeply interesting. However the bulk of the text felt as if it focused in on medical history, especially that of germ history. This is something that’s very popular, and that I’ve read quite a bit on so I found tedious and familiar in a way that kept me uninterested.
This one I would recommend if you’re a beginner not only to the topic but to medical history as well. Any real familiarity may leave you in the same situation I was in, slightly sleepy and a bit bored.
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!
Plot: An exploration through different times of scientists and doctors who were shunned or cast out.
Characters: Some of these will be familiar if you’re a history/medical history buff.
Setting: This was definitely western centric, primarily focused in on European and American individuals.
Readability: This is very approachable, but I was snoozing from time to time, I’m not going to lie.
Thoughts:
I love that the first part of the pitch on this calls it ‘energetic’ when that is the complete opposite of my experience. For such a short book I found myself reading it for so long I thought it’d never stop!
This has, do not mistake me, some fascinating and interesting things in it. I had no idea the level of cut-throat, seeming meanness that can be in the scientific/research world. That bit was fascinating and news to me, and on the whole I found the paleontology sections deeply interesting. However the bulk of the text felt as if it focused in on medical history, especially that of germ history. This is something that’s very popular, and that I’ve read quite a bit on so I found tedious and familiar in a way that kept me uninterested.
This one I would recommend if you’re a beginner not only to the topic but to medical history as well. Any real familiarity may leave you in the same situation I was in, slightly sleepy and a bit bored.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Matt Kaplan has spent two decades covering science for The Economist, which means he has spent two decades watching brilliant people get punished for being right. I Told You So! is what happens when he finally loses his patience about it.
The book pivots between historical martyrs and their modern counterparts. Ignaz Semmelweis, the nineteenth-century physician exiled for suggesting doctors wash their hands, serves as the book's recurring patron saint of inconvenient correctness. Galileo and Darwin make their obligatory appearances, but the real revelations are contemporary: Katalin Karikó's mRNA research, defunded and dismissed for decades before it became the basis for a Covid vaccine and a Nobel Prize; researchers silenced for flagging drug safety problems; biologists ridiculed for pointing out that our rodent studies are, to be diplomatic, not great.
What elevates the book beyond a victory lap for vindicated contrarians is Kaplan's argument that these aren't isolated failures. The incentive structures of grant funding, peer review, and academic hierarchy still reliably select for orthodoxy over originality. Science, he contends, has built an elaborate machine for ignoring its best ideas.
Kaplan writes with exasperated affection, proposes practical reforms, and never forgets that the real cost of institutional stubbornness is measured in lives, not bruised egos. This is that rare science book that will genuinely irritate the right people. One hopes they'll wash their hands of it....or, better yet, just wash their hands.
The book pivots between historical martyrs and their modern counterparts. Ignaz Semmelweis, the nineteenth-century physician exiled for suggesting doctors wash their hands, serves as the book's recurring patron saint of inconvenient correctness. Galileo and Darwin make their obligatory appearances, but the real revelations are contemporary: Katalin Karikó's mRNA research, defunded and dismissed for decades before it became the basis for a Covid vaccine and a Nobel Prize; researchers silenced for flagging drug safety problems; biologists ridiculed for pointing out that our rodent studies are, to be diplomatic, not great.
What elevates the book beyond a victory lap for vindicated contrarians is Kaplan's argument that these aren't isolated failures. The incentive structures of grant funding, peer review, and academic hierarchy still reliably select for orthodoxy over originality. Science, he contends, has built an elaborate machine for ignoring its best ideas.
Kaplan writes with exasperated affection, proposes practical reforms, and never forgets that the real cost of institutional stubbornness is measured in lives, not bruised egos. This is that rare science book that will genuinely irritate the right people. One hopes they'll wash their hands of it....or, better yet, just wash their hands.
February 2, 2026
In I Told You So! Matt Kaplan explores the stories (both historical and modern) of scientists who were dismissed by both w scientific community and the general public about their research but eventually were proven right.
Kaplan does a great job of tying together historical stories and more modern ones, showing how some struggles to be taken seriously and have your research taken seriously is an ongoing struggle.
One of the main focuses is Ignaz Semmelweis, an Hungarian doctor in the 1800s whose life research was to determine the cause and to prevent chidlbed fever, which was killing many women after childbirth. Kaplan does a great job of exploring how biases and political connections all had an impact on this.
On the more modern side he also tells the story of Katalin Kariko who struggled to find a place in academia with her mRNA research and the level of harassment as well as funding uncertainty affected her life.
With these and other stories Kaplan shines a light on the darker side of scientific research and how it has become entrenched in bias, prestige and just trying to play the game. However it also does offer things that can be tried to help with these problems and to help improve scientific research. There is also optimism as Kaplan does go through success despite adversity with the scientists.
The narration by Sean Pratt is also well paced and engaging to listen to.
An important and good listen on scientific research and the state of the industry.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Kaplan does a great job of tying together historical stories and more modern ones, showing how some struggles to be taken seriously and have your research taken seriously is an ongoing struggle.
One of the main focuses is Ignaz Semmelweis, an Hungarian doctor in the 1800s whose life research was to determine the cause and to prevent chidlbed fever, which was killing many women after childbirth. Kaplan does a great job of exploring how biases and political connections all had an impact on this.
On the more modern side he also tells the story of Katalin Kariko who struggled to find a place in academia with her mRNA research and the level of harassment as well as funding uncertainty affected her life.
With these and other stories Kaplan shines a light on the darker side of scientific research and how it has become entrenched in bias, prestige and just trying to play the game. However it also does offer things that can be tried to help with these problems and to help improve scientific research. There is also optimism as Kaplan does go through success despite adversity with the scientists.
The narration by Sean Pratt is also well paced and engaging to listen to.
An important and good listen on scientific research and the state of the industry.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
“I Told You So!” by Matt Kaplan is a well-written, interesting, and important book about science. Telling the story of scientific discovery in an easily understandable way is not an easy thing but Kaplan does a great job. No doubt his experience as both a scientist and journalist contribute to his success in making these accounts highly readable and understandable.
“I Told You So!” explains how science works, problems in science, and how science should work. Kaplan picks several examples ranging from the middle ages to modern times to illustrate his points.
My favorite example was Katalin Karikò who was working on mRNA and disease. After her Hungarian university could not support her, she moved to Temple University in Philadelphia. After difficulties there, she moved on to the University of Pennsylvania. After failing to raise research funding was demoted and then fired and her things put in trash bags in the hall.
She took a job with a little known German company and a few years later she was awarded a Nobel prize https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/med...
For “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”
Kaplan presents his ideas on better ways support science and improve its quality.
I thank Netgalley (https://www.netgalley.com ) for the chance to read this before publication. The book will be published on Feb 24 2026.
“I Told You So!” explains how science works, problems in science, and how science should work. Kaplan picks several examples ranging from the middle ages to modern times to illustrate his points.
My favorite example was Katalin Karikò who was working on mRNA and disease. After her Hungarian university could not support her, she moved to Temple University in Philadelphia. After difficulties there, she moved on to the University of Pennsylvania. After failing to raise research funding was demoted and then fired and her things put in trash bags in the hall.
She took a job with a little known German company and a few years later she was awarded a Nobel prize https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/med...
For “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”
Kaplan presents his ideas on better ways support science and improve its quality.
I thank Netgalley (https://www.netgalley.com ) for the chance to read this before publication. The book will be published on Feb 24 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I Told You So!
By Matt Kaplan
Mr. Kaplan is the science correspondent at The Economist. Having spent years as part of the scientific community – most notably in paleontology – Mr. Kaplan has a good understanding of the advances in science. And of the reasons for the many holdups in making scientific progress.
While we have the idea that science and scientists have been balked through the centuries by the reactionaries – religion, those resistant to change, the greedy etc – Mr. Kaplan's premise is that the scientific community itself has contributed greatly in blocking advancements is science and medicine through the centuries.
He points to schools of thought entrenched in previously taught ideas such as balancing the "humors" in the body to fight disease. Or the lack of understanding that improper hygiene led to the spread of infection. Or that, once a new idea such as vaccination was discovered, scientists refused to share their discoveries out of greed or coveting of fame.
This book contains numerous and various examples of how scientists have thrown up roadblocks to progress instead of promoting new ideas. It leads to a better understanding of the cooperation needed for scientific advancements to take place.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
By Matt Kaplan
Mr. Kaplan is the science correspondent at The Economist. Having spent years as part of the scientific community – most notably in paleontology – Mr. Kaplan has a good understanding of the advances in science. And of the reasons for the many holdups in making scientific progress.
While we have the idea that science and scientists have been balked through the centuries by the reactionaries – religion, those resistant to change, the greedy etc – Mr. Kaplan's premise is that the scientific community itself has contributed greatly in blocking advancements is science and medicine through the centuries.
He points to schools of thought entrenched in previously taught ideas such as balancing the "humors" in the body to fight disease. Or the lack of understanding that improper hygiene led to the spread of infection. Or that, once a new idea such as vaccination was discovered, scientists refused to share their discoveries out of greed or coveting of fame.
This book contains numerous and various examples of how scientists have thrown up roadblocks to progress instead of promoting new ideas. It leads to a better understanding of the cooperation needed for scientific advancements to take place.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
February 6, 2026
I Told You So by Matt Kaplan was a really interesting listen. I honestly had no idea how cutthroat the science community could be. The book does a great job showing how competition for funding shapes research, sometimes in ways that hurt progress more than help it.
One part that really surprised me was learning that Louis Pasteur was not a nice guy. We usually learn about him as a hero of science, but this book shows how ruthless he could be when it came to credit, recognition, and beating others to discoveries. It definitely changed how I think about some of the legends we are taught to admire (although I shouldn’t be surprised by this now).
What also stuck with me was how different scientific groups often do not collaborate, not because they do not want to, but because they are competing for the same shrinking pool of funding. The poor white rhinos! It is frustrating and honestly sad to hear how good ideas can stall or disappear simply because the money is not there.
The audiobook is engaging and easy to follow, and gives you lots of things to think about and lose sleep over. If you are curious about how science really works behind the scenes, the egos, the politics, and the funding battles throughout history.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.
One part that really surprised me was learning that Louis Pasteur was not a nice guy. We usually learn about him as a hero of science, but this book shows how ruthless he could be when it came to credit, recognition, and beating others to discoveries. It definitely changed how I think about some of the legends we are taught to admire (although I shouldn’t be surprised by this now).
What also stuck with me was how different scientific groups often do not collaborate, not because they do not want to, but because they are competing for the same shrinking pool of funding. The poor white rhinos! It is frustrating and honestly sad to hear how good ideas can stall or disappear simply because the money is not there.
The audiobook is engaging and easy to follow, and gives you lots of things to think about and lose sleep over. If you are curious about how science really works behind the scenes, the egos, the politics, and the funding battles throughout history.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Here’s my MO when it comes to reading nonfiction books. I like books like this because they blend history with biography, and I love stories that focus on overlooked or marginalized figures. I Told You So! shines a light on scientists that you could call contrarian, from early pioneers to more recent Nobel-winning researchers. Yes! That’s my jam. Gimme all the details.
For the most part, this is an accessible book, meaning it doesn’t sound academic even though it does lean that way. The section on Galileo brought me back to middle school science class, and the section on dinosaur DNA was fascinating as well. I also was glad to hear more about Joseph Lister, because I had only casually known his contribution to science.
What’s really cool, though, is that some of these scientific breakthroughs are recent enough that Matt Kaplan includes interviews with some subjects because they’re alive. Imagine that – some major scientific breakthroughs are so new, you may not have heard of them yet. Wild.
The book was narrated by Sean Pratt, who does an admirable job with the test. The only thing I didn’t like were the times the author inserted himself into the book, which seemed a bit like grandstanding. Otherwise, a very interesting read/listen.
Here’s my MO when it comes to reading nonfiction books. I like books like this because they blend history with biography, and I love stories that focus on overlooked or marginalized figures. I Told You So! shines a light on scientists that you could call contrarian, from early pioneers to more recent Nobel-winning researchers. Yes! That’s my jam. Gimme all the details.
For the most part, this is an accessible book, meaning it doesn’t sound academic even though it does lean that way. The section on Galileo brought me back to middle school science class, and the section on dinosaur DNA was fascinating as well. I also was glad to hear more about Joseph Lister, because I had only casually known his contribution to science.
What’s really cool, though, is that some of these scientific breakthroughs are recent enough that Matt Kaplan includes interviews with some subjects because they’re alive. Imagine that – some major scientific breakthroughs are so new, you may not have heard of them yet. Wild.
The book was narrated by Sean Pratt, who does an admirable job with the test. The only thing I didn’t like were the times the author inserted himself into the book, which seemed a bit like grandstanding. Otherwise, a very interesting read/listen.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A really good book, an enjoyable read, and a readable examination of reforming research and reducing bias in research awards. I kept thinking about Greta Keller’s book, The Last Extinction, as I read this one. Everything Kaplan shows in this book can be found in Keller’s book - prejudice, jealousy, and unwillingness to seek to understand before one is understood.
As in our current times, science seems to disdain the voices of minorities - bias is so prevalent that by excluding women and people of color we lose valuable insight that could move science along more quickly. Kaplan gives so many intriguing examples of this. From Ignaz Semmelweis to Kati Karikó, Kaplan shows how scientists disabused findings that went against the grains of what was then known. I especially liked Karikó’s story. She uncovered that RNA could prevent certain viral diseases. The key was making mRNA vaccines. When she couldn’t get funding to test her theories, the University of Pennsylvania demoted her. She went on to found BioNTech and helped to develop the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines that saved million of lives. She eventually won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2023. Take that!
I really got geeked reading this book. It’s perfect for anyone who appreciates science and wants to know more and the truth about the “more.” I liked the journalistic approach because I think that is exactly what makes the book credible - including the research that’s behind the writing. But to maintain the interest of the reader, you need writing that captures the spirit of the theme - which I think it did here.
This is going on my shelf of re-reads. I don’t put many there so when I do I know the book was the book!
I’d like to thank NetGalley and McMillan Publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.
#itoldyouso!
#mattkaplan
#mcmillsnpublishers
As in our current times, science seems to disdain the voices of minorities - bias is so prevalent that by excluding women and people of color we lose valuable insight that could move science along more quickly. Kaplan gives so many intriguing examples of this. From Ignaz Semmelweis to Kati Karikó, Kaplan shows how scientists disabused findings that went against the grains of what was then known. I especially liked Karikó’s story. She uncovered that RNA could prevent certain viral diseases. The key was making mRNA vaccines. When she couldn’t get funding to test her theories, the University of Pennsylvania demoted her. She went on to found BioNTech and helped to develop the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines that saved million of lives. She eventually won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2023. Take that!
I really got geeked reading this book. It’s perfect for anyone who appreciates science and wants to know more and the truth about the “more.” I liked the journalistic approach because I think that is exactly what makes the book credible - including the research that’s behind the writing. But to maintain the interest of the reader, you need writing that captures the spirit of the theme - which I think it did here.
This is going on my shelf of re-reads. I don’t put many there so when I do I know the book was the book!
I’d like to thank NetGalley and McMillan Publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.
#itoldyouso!
#mattkaplan
#mcmillsnpublishers
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