The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle

by Eric Lax

"Admirable, superbly researched . . . perhaps the most exciting tale of science since the apple dropped on Newton's head."
?Simon Winchester, The New York Times

Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in his London laboratory in 1928 and its eventual development as the first antibiotic by a team at Oxford University headed by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain in 1942 led to the introduction of the most important family of drugs of the twentieth century.

Yet credit for penicillin is largely misplaced. Neither Fleming nor Florey and his associates ever made real money from their achievements; instead it was the American labs that won patents on penicillin's manufacture and drew royalties from its sale. Why this happened, why it took fourteen years to develop penicillin, and how it was finally done is a fascinating story of quirky individuals, missed opportunities, medical prejudice, brilliant science, shoestring research, wartime pressures, misplaced modesty, conflicts between mentors and their protégés, and the passage of medicine from one era to the next.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Medicine, Medical, Biography, Health

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2004

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book needed more fungus and fewer petulant, childish scientists.

...in fact, don't most things benefit from more fungus and fewer petulant, childish scientists?

But, sometimes we have to deal with the mold we're given, not the mold we want.

The story of penicillin isn't quite what I thought. I thought there was this guy named Flemming, and he was culturing bacteria in a lab and mold accidentally got into it and he noticed it killed the bacteria and poof the wonder drug penicillin was born. Well, I guess it's not that simple. Something vaguely like that happened, but Flemming wasn't able to figure out the significance, so he wrote a paper about it and moved on to work on other stuff.

Meanwhile another scientist decides to look into it a decade later and he can't figure it out either. But he decides the solution to figuring out this mold thing is to leverage the power afforded by a team of petulant, bickering, jealous, scientists with different specialties.

After a hundred pages of petulant, jealous, bickering...featuring a wartime detour from London to America to find some petty scientists here (to bicker with), success is achieved!

...and of course, the icing on the cake is that somehow through an odd series of events, Flemming ends up getting all the credit even though he had nothing to do with the years of work figuring it all out. Which sets the stage for another 60 pages of petulance.

To review: needs more fungus, and less bickering scientists....

[The Mad Mad Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am unlikely to reread this book, the author made this book both enjoyable and informative. The painstaking research is obvious and the author clearly put a great deal of effort into making this informative read a good one.

I am now a huge Florey fan as well ;-) what an interesting portrait of a little-known man of science.

[Trudi Boyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the story of the development of penicillin very interesting, and was surprised to realise how the development and availability of the drug was up against such odds,that it really was only by the perseverance of men like Florey and his team that we have benefitted from this drug in the past 60 odd years. No doubt the human element to the story and the insight to the men's personalities is mainly drawn from correspondence and the author's interviews with Heatley so although that could have made them biased, Eric Lax does conform the basis for his conclusions and equally suggest reasons for why the men acted or spoke as they did. I was left feeling the story was unfinished - how did we go from such difficulty in producing sufficient penicillin for clinical trials to widespread production/availability - although it was mentioned that America managed to increase production I am none the wiser as to how this was achieved - was it simply through sheer numbers and volumes of companies producing the drug or because they found a much more efficient method to produce it? Equally I would have liked to see how this led to the discovery of other antibiotics and an overview of what happened to their production etc - were the same problems encountered? I will research these issues as like to see how the story ended so to speak. Equally it was good to see reference to current day issues such as the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics and to see that put into context as well.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that covers the development of Penicillin during world war II and the interwar years. Dr. Fleming was the first to discover the penicillin properties but never really was able to develop it. He would wind up with much of the credit and the Nobel Prize but the real work went to Dr. Florey and his research lab at oxford. They took the penicillin broth and turned it into the injections and powders that saved countless lives during World War II. It was American production that as the other big winner in the Penicillin story as they were able to produce over a billion mold spores that saved forty thousand lives in a short period of time. Penicillin was tirelessly publicized after production, and was a credit to Florey's efforts. This is a well written insightful analysis that shows how the drug was developed and the wonders of World War II production. It is a great addition to the history of medicine and a very quick read. Highly recommend.

[Jeff Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is almost entirely biography and politics, and has almost no science. For example - the structure of Penicillin is never shown, and how it acts to actually kill bacteria is never discussed. But huge parts of the book are dedicated to politics around the Nobel prize, the challenges in getting funding, the life stories do the scientists involved. But not one sentence on why Penicillin actually works. It seems like the author set out to show that Florey and his team didn't get enough credit, but didn't really care much about Penicillin or science. He did a good job of that & the book was well written(so I can't give it a bad rating - if that is what you are interested in, pick it up), but The story of Penicillin is more interesting and you got very little of that.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, well written, the author brings in all the personalities involved with the discovery of penicillin. And those personalities made all the difference in the story. Alexander Fleming is credited with the discovery of the mold, which he did. But it was almost impossible to extract in a form that was potent for disease. Fleming gave up. Dr Howard W. Florey saw the potential and knew what kind of a team it would take to make it work. It was teamwork. Only 3 people received the Nobel prize for it eliminating several including the one whose amazing, convoluted, extracting contraptions were essential. All this with the team having to dig bomb shelters and hide from the Blitz on Britain and other WWII difficulties. Interesting.

[latner3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The discovery of and the development of "The Mother of all Antibiotics." Insightful. Very good read.

[Daphne Walmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely engaging history/biography about the discovery and development of Penicillin. Dr. Florey and his team at Oxford were getting close to fruition on their work developing and testing the first antibiotic's efficacy and safety during the height of the bombing of England in WWII; those involved were driven by the fact that its use could mean the difference between winning and losing the war. The title derives from the Oxford team's concern that if Nazis invaded England, they would need to destroy their laboratory and records, to prevent the work from falling into enemy hands. To ensure they would be able to resume their work later, they rubbed penicillin spores into their clothing, where it was invisible but retrievable with the knowledge they had gained. A fascinating scientific tale.

[Cali · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read for my biology class. Slow at times. I never knew how interesting the personal live of people from the 1940’s could be, and in this book, there were SO many. Who married who and why, who hated their husband because she worked in the same lab as his mistress, why one lab worker hated another, and how the second didn’t know for 30 years, why people lied for fame, or studied medicine to support their family, or chose a medical school because they played water polo there once. This book was a ride.
And chapter 12 &13 killed me because the person who discovered Penicillin, Fleming, did almost nothing beyond that, but got almost all the credit for it. Thank you Florey, Chain, and Heatley for figuring out how to make a mold into a medicine. As soon as you let someone take credit for your work, you start down a very slippery and sad slope.

[Beth Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about the people and the work involved in discovering a new medicine (one that was able to cure people of otherwise deadly infections) has been quite soothing at this time of pandemic. Setting aside the subject and its relevance to the present moment, the book is well written, succeeding in illustrating the characters and events in a compelling way. The scientists who worked on studying and testing penicillin struggled to obtain funding, had personality conflicts, personal hang ups, world war II broke out... but all the while they persevered in their work to creatively problem solve, innovate, and figure out how to take a mysterious mold and create a new medicine. A great read.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read! I picked it up when I was fighting off a very nasty case of pneumonia. 100 years ago I would have died, if not for the persistence of Dr. Florey and his team. I loved the quote that these scientists were not necessarily "great scientists" doing something ground breaking or novel, but rather they saw what needed to be done and did it. The historical backdrop of WWII and the role it played in development was also interesting. Well written and well enjoyed!

[Faisal Chaudhary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read - there is a lot of mythology surrounding the discovery of Penicillin. This book sets the record straight.

[Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good--very detailed. I liked how the author discussed how the discovery itself is disputed--that was particularly interesting to me.

[Tom Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating history of the discovery and developement of penicillin - and of who should get the credit. The credit part was v.important to the British Schools where the science was carried out; as funding resulting from a success, was of a huge importance back when money for science was scarce. Funny how that works - no end of cash for war but for pure science? - meh. The modesty of some of the British scientists was head-scratching. Heatley turned down huge sums because he didn't feel he needed the money. Wow; how un-American. And I thought the fictional Pip was unreal in abjuring Magwitch's fortune. Guess it really does happen. Mind Boggling though it is.

One v.vexing typo on page 126 - the text has Churchill saying, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed to so many by so few. Where was the proofreading?" That should be, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." - inexcusable lapse by the publisher Henry Holt. There were some other passages of garbled syntax though the fault probably lies with me. Not so with the Churchill quote.

Easy book to read; easy book to want to read. We have it so easy now; compared to the pre-penicillin world. Astounding that anyone survived those dark days. In between the discovery (paper published 1929) and the availability to the public in 1945, lay a long and winding road.

The story of penicillin serves as an excellent example of government's role in developing new medicines. Profit isn't everything and money isn't necessarily the driving force behind humankind's quest for knowledge. Scientists do far more for humanity than capitalists. They also have their place but oft-times money is not the foremost factor in progress.

Fun bit on Moldy Mary and her champion cantaloupe; which became the primogenitor of most of the penicillin produced in the world. The amazing surprises provided by ernest scientific endeavours everywhere.

WWII: only the atom bomb had a higher priority for the War Department than penicillin.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was two, I fell (or was pushed by my brothers) off our piano bench. The result was a bout with osteomyelitis, and the cure was massive doses of penicillin - some 200 shots - in my ass, for which I still have the marks to prove my case to any disbelievers.

Thus I was drawn to this book - by Eric Lax, a fascinating true tale of the discovery of this wonder antibiotic. I'm always fascinating with books about the discovery of something - and this book rewards the reader with a marvelous story. The layman may recall that Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, which is true, but this story goes into much more depth about the other playes - Howard Florey and Ernst Chaim: From the inset cover: "....Lax explains why almost everyone remembers Fleming and almost no one remembers Florey and Chain. The development of penicillin was the last of four advances with infection. Unlike the other three discoveries, whose lifesaving qualities were immediately evident, the efficacy of the penicillin mold could not be determined until Florey's team performed its own laboratory magic."

An especially interesting section of the book deals with WWII and the lengths the allies took to get the 'mold' into safe hands (thus the title of the book).

An excellent book - fascinating depiction of real life discoverers and their remarkable achievements.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written account of the discovery of penicillin and how it was turned into the first viable antibiotic for widespread use against infections.
Intriguing story, that give due to those scientists whose invaluable work transformed penicillin into a usable antibiotic. History has credited Alexander Fleming with the discovery, but has neglected to elevate those scientists who actually figured out the secrets of how to turn the antibiotic properties of the mold into a usable drug.
The story's drama is intensified by the setting. The discoveries take place in Britain during the run up to WWII. The scientists must overcome great challenges posed by wartime research and are motivated to brave dangerous situations during the war in order to create the first "wonder" drug.

[Bookmarks Magazine]

Eric Lax, biographer of Woody Allen and Paul Newman, tells a riveting tale of the uncelebrated in The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat. Critics generally praise his focus on the personalities behind the science, especially his treatment of Heatley, a heretofore-anonymous chemist who was passed over for the 1945 Nobel Prize won by Fleming, Florey, and Ernst Chain. Reviewers disagree about Lax's balance between hard scientific information and personal history; a few critics wished for more science at the expense of a human-interest (and highly readable) story. Overall, Lax overwhelmingly succeeds in evoking the monumental importance of the Oxford scientists' work.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non Fiction is not really my thing. This book was pretty good. Lots of details about the people but the more interesting story is the the actual product development. Of course the argument over who deserved and or got most the credit is also interesting. I flew through it as I really could care less about some guys kids or some other guys wife and or mistress. The parts of the story as to how things actually (SOMEHOW) got done in the 1940s is pretty disturbing.
Bottom line, my boss gave it to me to read, it took me almost a year to get to it, I returned it to him and he asked what it was. I studied his face as he flipped through the book. He asked if it was any good and I understood, he hadnt read it yet. Yeah

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of WW2 and the development of penicillin. Sounds boring, it's not. Eric Lax is a terrific story teller. When I first looked at this book I could not imagine how he was able to fill so many pages with one micro history story. Well, by the time I had finished reading it I did not want the book to end. It is a soap opera of characters and events. Absolutely great reading. I have read another book on the history of penicillin that was a yawner. This is a great book for anyone to read. You don't need to have an interest in penicillin or WW2 (I don't and in fact I avoid books on WW2) to enjoy it. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book.

[Woodward Library]

Phil Evans, Professor, Wood Science recommends . . .
The Mold in Dr Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax
Why is this a favourite book?


This is a fascinating account of the discovery of penicillin and the main actors involved (and their all too familiar human failings). Everyone knows that Fleming 'discovered penicillin', but I was attracted to the book because it promised to set the record straight by describing Florey and Chains' involvement in the discovery. By the end my sympathies lay with the unassuming Englishman, Norman Heatley, whose contribution was on a par with those of the others.

[Jordon Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story! I am amazed by the fact that Fleming discovered penicillin, but actually didn't really do much more than that. I loved reading the details of Howard Florey and his colleagues while they worked on and developed the means in order to make penicillin a useful drug. One thing that I wish the author did was go more into the science/chemistry of how penicillin destroys bacteria. I also loved the title of the book, given that it is a spin on what the scientists actually had to do to protect their scientific work and future world-changing discoveries.

[Pam Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book!! Many people know that the bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin through a serendipitous event in his laboratory, but very few know the story of how that discovery led to the product that we use today. The story of how Dr. Howard Florey and his team extracted, purified and determined appropriate dosage and means of delivery during World War II is unbelievable. The author spins a beautiful true story that is hard to put down and will give you a new appreciation for what it took to get you that bottle of penicillin pills.

[Gregory Melahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring story of how a few scientists in Oxford, England, during the Blitz invented the mechanism for purifying penicillin, using equipment made from scavenged parts and hand-blown glassware, and then performed the initial tests on a few brave human subjects. The chief scientist (Florey) then flew to America to convince the giant pharma's to produce the new antibiotic. Before war's end, America was producing enough to treat every wounded soldier. And all done without a patent.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, if somewhat exhaustive account of the discovery and development of Penicillin.

I picked this up because I was interested in the science. I had to wade through a lot of passages about Alexander Fleming's athletic prowess, Howard Florey's marriage problems and Ernst Chains' personality issues.

Still, a very well researched book on a critical human discovery.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account of not so much the discovery of penicillin, but the monumental effort required by a somewhat overlooked group of scientists to scale-up production and test it during the shortages and frustrations of England during the second World War. Cheers to Florey, Chain, Heatley, the penicillin girls and others who brought us into the antibiotic era.

[Lora]

I set this book down for too long while reading others-- because it wasn't particularly gripping-- and now I've forgotten too much about the people and facts I've already read to keep going. It was very interesting in parts, mildly boring in others, but probably a decent book. I got nearly halfway through it.

[Pancha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was much harder to get into than I anticipated. Around chapter 8, the race to produce enough penicillin starts and things get interesting. But I still prefer Demon Under the Microscope, about the discovery of sulpha drugs.

[Leanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is about the discovery of penicillin. It is nonfiction. It took me forever to get through but I was determined to finish it. The information was interesting but truthfully it was really boring in parts!

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my theory class. As in many cases of scientific discovery, it appears that credit has not been given where credit is due. This story was a great example of how persistence paid off in the end.

[rivka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the people who made penicillin a reality.