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Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: Many major medical breakthroughs are the result of serendipity.
Chapter 3: The earliest chemical medicines were accidentally made by the European dye industry.
Chapter 4: The first antibiotic was discovered because of an improbable chain of chance events.
Chapter 5: A fatal wartime shipping disaster sparked the opening battle against cancer.
Chapter 6: A string of clinical mishaps cleared the path to modern heart surgery.
Chapter 7: Most mood-altering medicines used in psychiatry originally started as different drugs that produced surprising, unintended side effects in patients.
Chapter 8: An outsider’s fresh perspective from a medical novice uncovered the bacterial cause of stomach ulcers at last.
Chapter 9: To better foster serendipity, we must reform today’s prevailing system of medical research around the world.
Description
Happy Accidents (2011) explores the invaluable role that false assumptions, unlikely circumstances, and sheer dumb luck have played in some of medicine’s biggest discoveries. From antibiotics to antidepressants, heart surgery to chemotherapy, some of today’s most important drugs and treatments are the result of serendipity — stumbling across one thing while looking for another. Radiologist Morton A. Meyers reveals some of the incredible true stories of medicine’s luckiest findings.
Who Should Listen
- Science nerds interested in medicine and pharmacology
- History buffs interested in how great minds make big discoveries
- Readers who enjoy stories with a good plot twist