Notes & Sources: Molecular Sagas – Issue 1

Main Sources

Ernest Baumler. Paul Ehrlich: Scientist for Life. Translated by Grant Edwards, Holmes & Meier, 1984.

Thomas Hager. The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug. Harmony Books, 2006.

William Rosen. Miracle Cure: The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine. Viking, 2017.

 

Notes by Section

Intro

  • There are two definitions of the word “antibiotic” – a narrow definition and a broad definition. The narrow definition requires an antibiotic to be produced by a living organism in order to qualify. On this definition, chemicals synthesized by purely chemical means are not antibiotics (but are, rather, “antibacterials”). Meanwhile, under the broad definition of “antibiotic,” an antibiotic is any substance that selectively kills bacteria without significantly harming the body. Under this definition, it does not matter where the chemical comes from – only that it is effective against bacteria. I use the broad definition in Molecular Sagas.

Threshold 1: Seeing

  • The 2013 documentary Tim’s Vermeer provides fascinating insight into the techniques Vermeer may have used to create his paintings. In the movie, inventor and businessman Tim Jenison attempts to paint a painting in the style of Vermeer, with the help of an optical device.

Threshold 4: Targeting

  • Paul Ehrlich, the German doctor and medical scientist who lived from 1854–1915, is not to be confused with Paul R. Ehrlich, the American biologist and environmentalist who lived from 1932–2026, who incorrectly predicted that a rapidly rising global population would lead to cataclysmic, widespread famines.
  • Portrait photo sources (public domain): Louis Pasteur Paul Ehrlich Robert Koch
  • Study that found Salvarsan is a mixture of cyclic structures: Link

Victory’s Aftertaste

  • After Salvarsan’s release, Ehrlich’s team developed an improved variant of the compound, Neosalvarsan, that was more water soluble and less toxic.

The Shrapnel of War

  • Source for anecdote about Carl Duisberg accidentally being driven into poison gas: Link