Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong

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.