Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong
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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.
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Paul A. Offit, MD, is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as the acclaimed author of Autism's False Prophets, Vaccinated, Pandora's Lab, and Deadly Choices.
Greg Tremblay is an award-winning audiobook narrator who has recorded more than two hundred titles. He came to narration directly from an undergraduate background in theater and computer science and brings a passion for educational nonfiction and character-intensive fiction to his work. Born in Portland, Maine, he currently resides with his family and a slowly rotating menagerie of animals in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
