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The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming: Discoverer of Penicillin
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming: Discoverer of Penicillin
328 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1963
4 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
André Maurois
1,087 books255 followersAndré Maurois, born Emile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog, was a French author. André Maurois was a pseudonym that became his legal name in 1947.
During World War I he joined the French army and served as an interpreter and later a liaison officer to the British army. His first novel, Les silences du colonel Bramble, was a witty but socially realistic account of that experience. It was an immediate success in France. It was translated and also became popular in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries as The Silence of Colonel Bramble. Many of his other works have also been translated into English (mainly by Hamish Miles (1894–1937)), as they often dealt with British people or topics, such as his biographies of Disraeli, Byron, and Shelley.
During 1938 Maurois was elected to the prestigious Académie française. Maurois was encouraged and assisted in seeking this post by Marshal Philippe Pétain, and he made a point of acknowleging with thanks his debt to Pétain in his 1941 autobiography, Call no man happy - though by the time of writing, their paths had sharply diverged, Pétain having become Head of State of the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy France.
During World War II he served in the French army and the Free French Forces.
He died during 1967 after a long career as an author of novels, biographies, histories, children's books and science fiction stories. He is buried in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery near Paris.
During World War I he joined the French army and served as an interpreter and later a liaison officer to the British army. His first novel, Les silences du colonel Bramble, was a witty but socially realistic account of that experience. It was an immediate success in France. It was translated and also became popular in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries as The Silence of Colonel Bramble. Many of his other works have also been translated into English (mainly by Hamish Miles (1894–1937)), as they often dealt with British people or topics, such as his biographies of Disraeli, Byron, and Shelley.
During 1938 Maurois was elected to the prestigious Académie française. Maurois was encouraged and assisted in seeking this post by Marshal Philippe Pétain, and he made a point of acknowleging with thanks his debt to Pétain in his 1941 autobiography, Call no man happy - though by the time of writing, their paths had sharply diverged, Pétain having become Head of State of the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy France.
During World War II he served in the French army and the Free French Forces.
He died during 1967 after a long career as an author of novels, biographies, histories, children's books and science fiction stories. He is buried in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery near Paris.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 26, 2023
სამწუხაროა, რომ დღეს ისეთ ადამიანებზე ფიქრსა და საუბარში ვკარგავთ დროს, რომლებიც სულ რამდენიმე წლის შემდეგ გაქრებიან. ისინი კი, ვინც სამყარო შეცვალეს, იშვიათად თუ გაგვახსენდებიან. ალექსანდრ ფლემინგი რომ არა, რამდენი იქნებოდა ახლა დედამიწის მოსახლეობა, მათი სიცოცხლის ხანგრძლივობა და ხარისხი? რამდენი ჩვენგანი გადაურჩებოდა პანდემიას, აწ უკვე "ყოველდღიურად" ქცეულ ავადობებს და თითქოს "მარტივ" ჭრილობებს? მერედა როგორი ადამიანი იყო პენიცილინის აღმომჩენი- მშვიდი, მოკრძალებული, საქმეში შეუპოვარი...
January 21, 2026
Clear - entertaining; I certainly wouldn't have guessed either from style or content that it was originally written in French!
October 10, 2020
Sir Alexander Fleming, un nom connu par certains historiens, certains membres du personnel médical et certains amateurs de culture pop. Mais, dans les détails, il s'agit là d'un homme qui est responsable de l'existence de nombre d'individus marchant la Terre aujourd'hui.
Fleming est celui qui est responsable de la découverte de la pénicilline, soit, le premier antibiotique découvert pour usage médical potentiel. Sans sa découverte, il aurait été possible que celle-ci ait été retardée de plusieurs années, voire quelques décennies même. Et lorsque l'on évalue l'importance de la pénicilline et de tous les antibiotiques qui ont été dérivés des champignons (idée développée par Fleming), nous observons qu'une forte part des individus frôlant la surface de la Terre n'aurait soit jamais vu le jour ou n'aurait jamais vécu assez longtemps pour exister aujourd'hui.
Dans un monde d'aujourd'hui où la majorité des infections bactériennes sont traitables avec une variété très large d'antibiotiques (sauf si l'on parle de C. difficile), pour plusieurs, une infection n'est synonyme que d'un désagrément passager. Par contre, aux alentours de 1930, les années où Fleming isola Penicillium chrysogenum (dit, notatum), certaines infections bactériennes étaient un euphémisme pour une sentence de mort: l'on parle, entre autre, de la pneumonie, la syphilis, l'encéphalite, la fasciite nécrosante et la méningite, qui, pour la plus grande part des gens, étaient un appel à l'extrême-onction (surtout pour la méningite et la fasciite où là, c'était un adieu garanti). Mais chez ceux avec une immunité plus compromise, l'on pouvait même inclure: la sinusite, la bronchite, la cystite, pharyngite à streptocoque, et j'en passe, un lot d'infections différentes qui pouvaient entrainer une cascade de problèmes chez ceux qui étaient plus susceptibles à sa réception et mener, à la fin, à une issue fatale.
C'est pourquoi cette découverte a changé le monde. Beaucoup d'individus n'auraient jamais frôlé la surface de la Terre et d'autres seraient morts trop tôt. Personnellement, j'aurais terminé ma vie à l'âge de 9 ans s'il n'avait pas été question des antibiotiques. À cet âge, j'ai développé une pneumonie qui devenait de plus en plus sévère avec le temps, naturellement. Mais ce n'a pas été tout: j'ai développé la même pneumonie l'année qui a suivie et un autre l'année suivante. Et ça, c'est sans compter toutes les bronchites et sinusites que j'ai pu développer au cours de ma vie. Fort heureusement, ces enchainements rapides d'infections bactériennes n'ont duré que jusqu'à l'âge de mes 16 ans, après, ça s'est stabilisé et aujourd'hui à l'âge de 23 ans, je n'ai pas développé d'infection depuis bientôt 7 ans. Mais, tout de même, la réalité est telle que je dois ma vie à Fleming (et Chain, qui a transformé cet eumycète en composé médical), sans ces deux hommes, je n'aurais jamais été ici pour écrire ces mots, puisque dans tous les cas, c'est les antibiotiques qui m'ont sauvé.
Le livre quant à lui est palpitant. Et pour un ''geek'' de la microbiologie comme moi et de la médecine et de son influence sur la société, c'était une lecture fascinante qui en dit long sur l'homme derrière la découverte qui a changé le monde de la médecine, et l'homme à qui moi et nombre d'autres doivent leur vie.
Il s'agit là également de l'un de mes livres préférés de tous les temps.
5/5
Fleming est celui qui est responsable de la découverte de la pénicilline, soit, le premier antibiotique découvert pour usage médical potentiel. Sans sa découverte, il aurait été possible que celle-ci ait été retardée de plusieurs années, voire quelques décennies même. Et lorsque l'on évalue l'importance de la pénicilline et de tous les antibiotiques qui ont été dérivés des champignons (idée développée par Fleming), nous observons qu'une forte part des individus frôlant la surface de la Terre n'aurait soit jamais vu le jour ou n'aurait jamais vécu assez longtemps pour exister aujourd'hui.
Dans un monde d'aujourd'hui où la majorité des infections bactériennes sont traitables avec une variété très large d'antibiotiques (sauf si l'on parle de C. difficile), pour plusieurs, une infection n'est synonyme que d'un désagrément passager. Par contre, aux alentours de 1930, les années où Fleming isola Penicillium chrysogenum (dit, notatum), certaines infections bactériennes étaient un euphémisme pour une sentence de mort: l'on parle, entre autre, de la pneumonie, la syphilis, l'encéphalite, la fasciite nécrosante et la méningite, qui, pour la plus grande part des gens, étaient un appel à l'extrême-onction (surtout pour la méningite et la fasciite où là, c'était un adieu garanti). Mais chez ceux avec une immunité plus compromise, l'on pouvait même inclure: la sinusite, la bronchite, la cystite, pharyngite à streptocoque, et j'en passe, un lot d'infections différentes qui pouvaient entrainer une cascade de problèmes chez ceux qui étaient plus susceptibles à sa réception et mener, à la fin, à une issue fatale.
C'est pourquoi cette découverte a changé le monde. Beaucoup d'individus n'auraient jamais frôlé la surface de la Terre et d'autres seraient morts trop tôt. Personnellement, j'aurais terminé ma vie à l'âge de 9 ans s'il n'avait pas été question des antibiotiques. À cet âge, j'ai développé une pneumonie qui devenait de plus en plus sévère avec le temps, naturellement. Mais ce n'a pas été tout: j'ai développé la même pneumonie l'année qui a suivie et un autre l'année suivante. Et ça, c'est sans compter toutes les bronchites et sinusites que j'ai pu développer au cours de ma vie. Fort heureusement, ces enchainements rapides d'infections bactériennes n'ont duré que jusqu'à l'âge de mes 16 ans, après, ça s'est stabilisé et aujourd'hui à l'âge de 23 ans, je n'ai pas développé d'infection depuis bientôt 7 ans. Mais, tout de même, la réalité est telle que je dois ma vie à Fleming (et Chain, qui a transformé cet eumycète en composé médical), sans ces deux hommes, je n'aurais jamais été ici pour écrire ces mots, puisque dans tous les cas, c'est les antibiotiques qui m'ont sauvé.
Le livre quant à lui est palpitant. Et pour un ''geek'' de la microbiologie comme moi et de la médecine et de son influence sur la société, c'était une lecture fascinante qui en dit long sur l'homme derrière la découverte qui a changé le monde de la médecine, et l'homme à qui moi et nombre d'autres doivent leur vie.
Il s'agit là également de l'un de mes livres préférés de tous les temps.
5/5
January 23, 2016
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming, written by Andre Maurois (and translated from the French by Gerard Hopkins) in 1959, describes the trials and tribulations of the discoverer of penicillin.
Fleming toiled for years in the laboratory. As a medical researcher at St. Mary’s in London, England, he contributed much to the field. Luck, along with his prepared mind, allowed for the discovery of penicillin. As Maurois writes, “Out of thousands of known moulds one, and only one, produced penicillin, and out of the millions of bacteria in the world, only some are affected by penicillin. If some other mould had come in contact with the same bacteria, nothing would have happened; if the right mould had come in contact with some other culture, nothing would have happened. If the right mould had come in contact with the right bacteria at the wrong moment, there would have been nothing to observe. Further, if, at that precise moment, [Fleming’s] mind had been occupied with other things, he would have lost his chance. If he had been in a bad mood, he might well have thrown away the contaminated culture.”
Fleming lived his life as a reserved, humble Scotsman, through two world wars. Maurois adds, “The public and the Press were fascinated by so original and modest a character. There was something romantic about the story of penicillin: the spore drifting through the window and settling on a culture; the discovery brought to completion at the very height of the [Second World War] just when it would be most useful; the marvelous reports pouring in from the armies – all these things helped to create a legend, most of which was true.”
Fleming’s modesty is evident when he said, “I have been accused of having invented penicillin. No man could invent penicillin, for it has been produced from time immemorial by a certain mould. No, I did not invent the substance penicillin, but I drew people’s attention to it, and gave it a name.”
Publicity, which Fleming had not sought, was relentless. He found it difficult to explain to the lay public that penicillin was not a ‘miraculous panacea.’ It only cured certain infections, but it was very effective against those microbes it destroyed.
Fleming was adamant about the application of penicillin: “In the first place, penicillin could act on the microbes only if it were in contact with them, either locally or in the blood stream . . . Next, care should be taken not to use penicillin for minor infections – a sore throat, for instance – because that only encouraged among the microbes the development of resistant strains . . . It was necessary to wage a blitzkrieg against microbes.” Fleming foresaw the problems to come: that certain infectious diseases would mutate and resist penicillin. He was perceptive, as resistance to antibiotics has become a major problem for the medical and agricultural communities in the 21st century.
The Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945 was awarded to Fleming, together with Ernst Chain and Sir Howard Florey, the two Oxford men who led the effort to purify and manufacture penicillin. In a nod to the benefits for humanity, at Fleming’s insistence, penicillin would remain unpatented and free of all royalties. He believed, as Mervyn Gordon wrote, in 1920, “The object of research is the advancement, not of the investigator, but of knowledge.”
I recommend this book for those interested in learning about all of Fleming’s contributions to science as well as the discovery and manufacture of penicillin during the first half of the twentieth century.
Fleming toiled for years in the laboratory. As a medical researcher at St. Mary’s in London, England, he contributed much to the field. Luck, along with his prepared mind, allowed for the discovery of penicillin. As Maurois writes, “Out of thousands of known moulds one, and only one, produced penicillin, and out of the millions of bacteria in the world, only some are affected by penicillin. If some other mould had come in contact with the same bacteria, nothing would have happened; if the right mould had come in contact with some other culture, nothing would have happened. If the right mould had come in contact with the right bacteria at the wrong moment, there would have been nothing to observe. Further, if, at that precise moment, [Fleming’s] mind had been occupied with other things, he would have lost his chance. If he had been in a bad mood, he might well have thrown away the contaminated culture.”
Fleming lived his life as a reserved, humble Scotsman, through two world wars. Maurois adds, “The public and the Press were fascinated by so original and modest a character. There was something romantic about the story of penicillin: the spore drifting through the window and settling on a culture; the discovery brought to completion at the very height of the [Second World War] just when it would be most useful; the marvelous reports pouring in from the armies – all these things helped to create a legend, most of which was true.”
Fleming’s modesty is evident when he said, “I have been accused of having invented penicillin. No man could invent penicillin, for it has been produced from time immemorial by a certain mould. No, I did not invent the substance penicillin, but I drew people’s attention to it, and gave it a name.”
Publicity, which Fleming had not sought, was relentless. He found it difficult to explain to the lay public that penicillin was not a ‘miraculous panacea.’ It only cured certain infections, but it was very effective against those microbes it destroyed.
Fleming was adamant about the application of penicillin: “In the first place, penicillin could act on the microbes only if it were in contact with them, either locally or in the blood stream . . . Next, care should be taken not to use penicillin for minor infections – a sore throat, for instance – because that only encouraged among the microbes the development of resistant strains . . . It was necessary to wage a blitzkrieg against microbes.” Fleming foresaw the problems to come: that certain infectious diseases would mutate and resist penicillin. He was perceptive, as resistance to antibiotics has become a major problem for the medical and agricultural communities in the 21st century.
The Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945 was awarded to Fleming, together with Ernst Chain and Sir Howard Florey, the two Oxford men who led the effort to purify and manufacture penicillin. In a nod to the benefits for humanity, at Fleming’s insistence, penicillin would remain unpatented and free of all royalties. He believed, as Mervyn Gordon wrote, in 1920, “The object of research is the advancement, not of the investigator, but of knowledge.”
I recommend this book for those interested in learning about all of Fleming’s contributions to science as well as the discovery and manufacture of penicillin during the first half of the twentieth century.
January 11, 2021
Inspirující příběh a osobnost, moc dobře napsané. dost jsem se poučit na toto téma.
October 1, 2022
Must read!
May 8, 2024
Flem's life gets 5 stars! The book is very kind to the scientist's personality and his achievements. However, it is not a page-turner.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews