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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.
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.
- GenresScienceHistoryNonfiction
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Expected publication February 24, 2026
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About the author
Matt Kaplan
4 books33 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.)
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.
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 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.)
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.
November 28, 2025
When it comes to nonfiction, if I pick up a book and it keeps me engaged, it’s easy to read without being too complex or confusing, and it has me going “huh! I definitely didn’t know that!”… I can pretty much guarantee I’m going to enjoy it. This book checked off all of those boxes!
There were so many interesting stories and facts in this book, and it kept me intrigued from the very beginning. You learn about paleontology, bloodletting, scientists who discovered some of the biggest things in history but refusing to say they discovered it because they didn’t want to be ostracized, and so much more.
For example, I had no idea surgeons used to use disgusting, old, dirty instruments because they thought it showed they were experienced in their field. This was the perfect book to scratch the random nonfiction itch I get several times a month. I really enjoyed this!
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for this eARC!!
There were so many interesting stories and facts in this book, and it kept me intrigued from the very beginning. You learn about paleontology, bloodletting, scientists who discovered some of the biggest things in history but refusing to say they discovered it because they didn’t want to be ostracized, and so much more.
For example, I had no idea surgeons used to use disgusting, old, dirty instruments because they thought it showed they were experienced in their field. This was the perfect book to scratch the random nonfiction itch I get several times a month. I really enjoyed this!
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for this eARC!!
November 16, 2025
So, I see the narrative purpose of telling this story in a non-linear way, but MAN was it difficult for me to keep track of which scientists were which in this book. That being said, I did still thoroughly enjoy it. The anecdotes were heavy on the biology side of things, and I am sure that there are plenty of examples in other scientific fields (maybe even humanities fields too!) but I can't fault the author for writing about what he knows. I don't entirely agree with the author's proposals to fix the peer review process, but he did make a great case as to how science is broken, how it became broken, and how maybe it's always been a little bit broken in the first place.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.
November 7, 2025
I Told You So by Matt Kaplan is an exploration of scientific resistance throughout history. Kaplan skillfully threads together accounts of researchers whose ideas were first rejected, mocked, or opposed, only to be validated over time. The science is presented clearly, emphasizing how professional pride can hinder the acceptance of new findings that disrupt established beliefs. Emerging scientists are especially at risk, though even figures like Darwin, Pasteur, and modern Nobel laureates have faced intense pushback for challenging norms. This book serves as a powerful reminder that scientific progress often demands personal sacrifice.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.
November 19, 2025
I loved this book. Kaplan tells a great, well-paced story. It excels at explaining how science works, problems in science, and how science should work. The tone is highly conversational and all the science is explained clearly. Kaplan intersperses history with his own experiences making the book more dynamic. I found some of the wording to be deliciously blunt and I appreciated Kaplan’s great sense of humour, which came through the best through the footnotes, which were definitely worth reading. I consider this book a must-read for anyone interested in the history of science. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader copy.
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
This book was very interesting. Matt Kaplan profiles different scientists throughout history and how the culture of the scientific community stymied progress and discovery. He then describes how those same factors are still in play today. This book was written in a way that makes the subject matter very approachable, even to those without a lot of science background. It's an eye opening look into what actually goes on in the political world of science. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was so eye opening, engaging, and just outright cool. If you like knowing outrageous random things that others would never know, this is for you. It’s humorous, well informed and researched, and most importantly NOT dry. Just great, interesting knowledge you would never know Unless you really dug around.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I received a free copy of, I Told You So!, by Matt Kaplan, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Being a scientist is not for the thin skinned. Scientists have long been thought as unbelievable, their theories and experiments and results, even with proof, people still do not always believe them. This was a really interesting read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Scientific progress is and always will be constrained by financial and personal interests. These interests are often detrimental to the common good. Matt Kaplan writes an illuminating narrative based on his profound experience as a science writer for The Economist. A fascinating tale with specific calls to action regulators and policy makers should consider.
November 17, 2025
The background politics of scientific research has always been fascinating and the unintended consequences and outcomes of various lines of research is central to so many discoveries. This book is well written and has stories to tell!
December 7, 2025
With thanks to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and author Matt Kaplan, for free access to this digital ARC in exchange for an honest opinion, these are my thoughts: a solid four-star book, more four-plus.
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.
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