Pandoras Lab, Paul A.  Offit MD
Pandoras Lab, Paul A.  Offit MD
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Pandora's Lab
Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong

Author: Paul A. Offit MD

Narrator: Greg Tremblay

Unabridged: 7 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/04/2017


Synopsis

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.Pandora’s Lab takes us from opium’s heyday as the pain reliever of choice to recognition of opioids as a major cause of death in the United States; 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 ideas from the past such as advocating racial purity or using lobotomies as a cure for mental illness. These unwitting errors add up to seven lessons both cautionary and profound, explained by renowned author and speaker Paul A. Offit. Offit uses these lessons to investigate how we can separate good science from bad, using as case studies some of today’s most controversial creations: e-cigarettes, GMOs, and drug treatments for ADHD.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.

About Paul A. Offit MD

Paul A. Offit, MD, is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an award-winning physician, coinventor of a rotavirus vaccine, and the author of several books on medical and scientific issues, including Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure and Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction with Charlotte A. Moser.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on January 05, 2020

Seven examples to learn from how not do give many inspirations of how humankind could mess things up in the future. DDT, transfats, E-cigarettes, eugenics, vitamin C, nitrogen, lobotomy, etc all seemed fair for its days but stupid to barbaric in hindsight. One must say, to humankind's defense, that s......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on February 15, 2023

Original Review, June 26, 2022: I have fretted over this review for hours. I’ve written it and edited it and scrapped it and rewritten it and re-edited it and scrapped it again. It’s not that the book is particularly horrible or spectacularly great or overly complicated. In fact, my inability to chur......more

Goodreads review by Yun on May 29, 2019

Pandora's Lab examines seven scientific breakthroughs that ultimately lead us in the wrong direction, and considers what lessons we might learn from them so that we don't make the same mistakes again. On the one hand, this is a fascinating and thought-provoking book. One of the highlights for me was......more

Goodreads review by Tania on April 15, 2018

4.5 stars. Let me start of by saying that I'm not a big nonfiction reader, so the fact that I'm giving this almost five stars definitely says something about how accessible and interesting the content is. The author looks at different inventions, most of them well intentioned, which had unforeseen,......more


Quotes

“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

“The author clearly explains scientific processes and why they matter…Timely [and] may even tempt readers who usually shun science.” Library Journal

“A fascinating and sometimes shocking look at how science can sometimes lead to disaster.” Booklist

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