Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong

by Paul A. Offit MD

Overview

What happens when ideas presented as science lead us in the wrong direction? 

History is filled with brilliant ideas that gave rise to disaster, and this book explores the most fascinating—and significant—missteps: from opium's heyday as the pain reliever of choice to recognition of opioids as a major cause of death in the U.S.; from the rise of trans fats as the golden ingredient for tastier, cheaper food to the heart disease epidemic that followed; and from the cries to ban DDT for the sake of the environment to an epidemic-level rise in world malaria.

These are today's sins of science—as deplorable as mistaken past ideas about advocating racial purity or using lobotomies as a cure for mental illness. These unwitting errors add up to seven lessons both cautionary and profound, narrated by renowned author and speaker Paul A. Offit. Offit uses these lessons to investigate how we can separate good science from bad, using some of today's most controversial creations—e-cigarettes, GMOs, drug treatments for ADHD—as case studies. For every "Aha!" moment that should have been an "Oh no," this book is an engrossing account of how science has been misused disastrously—and how we can learn to use its power for good.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426217982
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	289,384
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

PAUL A. OFFIT is a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases and an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. He is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine that has been credited with saving hundreds of lives every day. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He has been a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Offit is a board member of Every Child By Two and a founding board member of the Autism Science Foundation (ASF).

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

Chapter 1 God's Own Medicine 15

Chapter 2 The Great Margarine Mistake 41

Chapter 3 Blood From Air 61

Chapter 4 America's Master Race 97

Chapter 5 Turning the Mind Inside Out 131

Chapter 6 The Mosquito Liberation Front 161

Chapter 7 Nobel Prize Disease 191

Chapter 8 Learning From the Past 213

Epilogue 241

Acknowledgments 243

Selected Bibliography 245

About the Author 273

Index 275

Editorial Reviews

02/27/2017
Many dramatic scientific discoveries have lost their gloss or perhaps were never scientific to begin with, as pediatrician Offit (Bad Faith) shows in this heated denunciation of bad science. He outlines seven infamous discoveries that have had massive, detrimental unintended consequences. Opening with an account of the opium poppy, Offit traces opium’s development from its use in antiquity to the opioid epidemic of the 21st century. From there he moves through case studies on the false promise of margarine, the ways artificial fertilizer has poisoned water systems, the rise of the American eugenics movement, the horrors of the lobotomy, and the demonization of DDT. Offit’s seventh chapter details how three acclaimed scientists independently wandered down paths of pseudoscience, with dreadful results. He concludes by applying the lessons of his preceding chapters to new developments such as GMOs, autism cures, and e-cigarettes. The role of capitalism in scientific development and promotion does not come under scrutiny. In warning the public of pseudoscientific danger, Offit urges the public to examine available data; beware of quick fixes, fads, and charismatic health gurus; and understand that every advance comes at a price. These are all sensible suggestions, though pessimists will argue they’re unlikely to catch on. Agent: Gail Ross, Ross Yoon Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"This is a much needed book — especially now."—NPR

“After spending years compiling a list of 50 of the world’s worst inventions, [Offit] conducted his own sad version of March Madness to whittle it down to just a handful of finalists…all have proved to be disastrous for human health."—The Washington Post

"A fascinating and sometimes shocking look at how science can sometimes lead to disaster." 
—Booklist

"In warning the public of pseudoscientific danger, Offit urges the public to examine available data; beware of quick fixes, fads, and charismatic health gurus; and understand that every advance comes at a price." —Publishers Weekly

"Another rousing, pull-no-punches piece from a physician set on educating the public about the fallibility of scientists." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/01/2017
Pediatrician and vocal child vaccination proponent Offit selects seven scientific discoveries that were once celebrated but have arguably "changed the world for the worse" and impact us today, such as opium (heroin), margarine (trans fats), industrial nitrogen fixation (chemical warfare), eugenics, lobotomy, DDT, and synthesized vitamins. The author clearly explains scientific processes and why they matter. The chapter on vitamins begins with Linus Pauling's embrace of megadosing of Vitamin C—megadosing is now linked to increased risk of cancer and heart disease—but veers into other Nobel Prize winners who, after earlier success, later clung to scientifically disproven theories. Indeed, there are Nobel-winners-gone-wrong throughout. Offit counters these tales with seven aphorisms to consider when encountering the next publicized breakthrough: it's all about the data, everything has a price, beware the zeitgeist, beware the quick fix, the dose makes the poison, be cautious about being cautious, and pay attention to the little man behind the curtain. A slew of relevant developments beyond the basic seven are discussed, including purported autism cures, GMOs, and the rhetoric of the last presidential campaign. VERDICT Timely and recommended for most public libraries; may even tempt readers who usually shun science.—Teresa R. Faust, Coll. of Central Florida

Library Journal

2017-01-24
Tales of scientific errors whose unintended consequences have been disastrous.Offit (Vaccinology and Pediatrics/Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine, 2015, etc.), a doctor with a mission, once again does not hold back. In each chapter, he tells a different story of science gone wrong, beginning with the war on pain, stretching from opium through heroin to the addictive opioids now in the headlines. Then the author takes on scientists' mistaken belief that margarine, with its partially hydrogenated vegetable oils containing trans fats, was a heart-healthy alternative to butter. It was quite the opposite, writes Offit, and the process for converting unsaturated fats to trans fats "has probably caused more disease and death than any other man-made chemical reaction in history." The author then tells of Fritz Haber, the pesticide and fertilizer chemist behind the gas warfare of World War I and supervisor of production of Zyklon B, the gas used to kill millions of Jews. Haber won a Nobel Prize, as did Egas Moniz, the inventor of lobotomies. Offit's acidic comment: "At this point, it seems reasonable to wonder whether Nobel Prizes awarded in the first half of the 20th century came in Cracker Jack boxes." The author also takes up the eugenics movement, with its malicious notion of a master race, the erroneous banning of DDT following Rachel Carson's Silent Spring—in Offit's words, she was not a scientist but a polemicist—and the fallacious notion of the highly respected and double Nobelist Linus Pauling that megadoses of vitamin C could cure diseases. Each chapter concludes with a crisp take-home lesson, such as "beware the zeitgeist" and "beware the quick fix." Finally, Offit applies these lessons to a number of contemporary concerns, including e-cigarettes and cancer-screening programs, providing advice on how to think clearly about these issues and how to avoid the mistakes of the past. Another rousing, pull-no-punches piece from a physician set on educating the public about the fallibility of scientists.

Kirkus Reviews