My latest column in INC. magazine is up, about how important it is to document processes and protocols and insights. You'd think as a writer this would've been second nature to me, but it's actually something I learned from working with engineers at Iodine and GoodRx.
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The white lab mouse is one of the most definitive icons of science. So where does this creature come from? Potentially the first was used by necessity in one of the most important experiments in scientific history.
Read MoreThank you to David Shaywitz for the thoughtful Forbes write-up of The Remedy!
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The story of Robert Koch and tuberculosis is, in part, a story about how one scientist's discovery under a microscope works its way into a new social truth. In other words, it's one thing to prove to scientists that those bacteria under the scope are the agents of disease. But it it quite another thing to change society, so that ordinary people comprehend the true nature of germs and how they must change their own daily habits and behaviors. That is a much harder challenge, and it's one science is still struggling with.
One wonderful example of how this social shift took place is this list of 19 rules for children, a list that first appeared around the turn of the 20th century in a pamphlet called "The True Story of Tuberculosis."
The Daily Beast has published an excerpt from The Remedy. Give it a read, then order your own copy of the book.
Plus, check out my interview with The Daily Beast's Tessa Miller. We talked about what drew me to the story and how Twitter helped me write the book.
Read MoreListen to the latest episode of WGBH's Innovation Overload podcast for my discussion with Kara Miller.
Read MoreThank you to the Los Angeles Times for its wonderful review of The Remedy!
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In 2005, when I was mulling going back to school for my Masters in Public Health, my father sent me a recent copy of the New England Journal of Medicine with a special section on “Medical Detectives.” There were two stories that were especially compelling: the first was a tribute to Berton Roueche, a wonderful writer for the New Yorker in the 1950s and 1960s, who specialized in ride-alongs with the New York City Department of Health epidemiology squad. His stories read like a sort of tweedy version of CSI, and the collections, especially 11 Blue Men, were favorites in the Goetz household.
The other story in that issue of NEJM concerned an odd coincidence between
Read More"The Remedy deftly combines a strong narrative with a great overview of the rapid development of science and medicine, making it a very strong read for both Holmesians and those with an interest in the history of medicine."
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