Pandora’s Lab
Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong
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Narrated by:
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Greg Tremblay
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By:
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Paul A. Offit MD
About this listen
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.
©2017 Paul A. Offit (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Don't waste your money!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-20-16
By: Morton A. Meyers
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Missing Microbes
- How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
- By: Martin J. Blaser
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now this invisible eden is being irrevocably damaged by some of our most revered medical advances-antibiotics-threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes with terrible health consequences.
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Very enlightening and information well supported
- By James on 05-03-15
By: Martin J. Blaser
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The Cancer Chronicles
- Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery
- By: George Johnson
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, science writer George Johnson embarked on a journey to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who dedicate their lives to understanding and combating it. What he discovered is a revolution under way - an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from. In a provocative and intellectually vibrant exploration, he takes us on an adventure through the history and recent advances of cancer research that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the disease.
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A quick read - hard to put down
- By Digital Dilema on 09-06-13
By: George Johnson
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The Great Influenza
- The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease.
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Great book but very disturbing...
- By Tim on 01-15-09
By: John M. Barry
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Ravenous
- Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection
- By: Sam Apple
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
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The Nobel laureate Otto Warburg was widely regarded in his day as one of the most important biochemists of the 20th century, a man whose research was integral to humanity’s understanding of cancer. He was also among the most despised figures in Nazi Germany. As a Jewish homosexual living openly with his male partner, Warburg represented all that the Third Reich abhorred. Yet Hitler and his top advisors dreaded cancer, and protected Warburg in the hope that he could cure it.
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Highly recommended, a must read.
- By Joerg on 06-10-21
By: Sam Apple
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The Moth in the Iron Lung
- A Biography of Polio
- By: Forrest Maready
- Narrated by: Forrest Maready
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
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A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease - polio - told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere. Doctors, parents, and health officials were at a loss to explain why this formerly unheard-of disease began paralyzing so many children. Why did this disease start to become such a horrible problem during the late 1800s? Why did it affect children more often than adults? Why was it originally called teething paralysis by mothers and their doctors?
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Root Cause
- By Circlekay1 Gulfport MS on 10-24-19
By: Forrest Maready
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The Truth About Cancer
- By: Ty M. Bollinger
- Narrated by: Ty M. Bollinger
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
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One out of three women alive today, and one out of two men, will face a cancer diagnosis, according to the World Health Organization. Ty Bollinger takes this personally: in the course of a decade, he says, "I lost my entire family to cancer. I don't believe I had to lose them." The Truth about Cancer has been written for one simple reason: to share the knowledge we need to protect ourselves, treat ourselves, and in some cases save our lives or the lives of those we love.
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save a life with this valuable information.
- By edwin matias on 12-30-16
By: Ty M. Bollinger
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Polio
- An American Story
- By: David M. Oshinsky
- Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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This comprehensive and gripping narrative, which received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for history, covers all the challenges, characters, and controversies in America's relentless struggle against polio. Funded by philanthropy and grassroots contributions, Salk's killed-virus vaccine (1954) and Sabin's live-virus vaccine (1961) began to eradicate this dreaded disease.
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Wonderful
- By Patricia B Tripoli on 07-22-08
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Get Well Soon
- History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
- By: Jennifer Wright
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon 34 more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-19th-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome - a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure.
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Didn't know syphilis could be so fascinating.
- By Kindle Customer on 02-09-17
By: Jennifer Wright
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The Panic Virus
- A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear
- By: Seth Mnookin
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Panic Virus is a gripping scientific detective story about how grassroots radicals, snake-oil salesmen, and cynical journalists have perpetrated the biggest health-scare hoax of all time. It explores what happens when the media treats all viewpoints as equally valid, regardless of facts, from parents who are convinced that vaccines caused their children's autism to right-wing radicals who believe that climate change is a myth
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Incredible thorough journey
- By Rachel Dewald on 03-22-11
By: Seth Mnookin
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What listeners say about Pandora’s Lab
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- E. A. Newton
- 05-27-19
Very very interesting, and challenges you to think for yourself
I am one of the most curious people I know - curious and a bit of a skeptic because so much information is skewed by perspective. But, Dr. Offit gives you the tools to come to your own conclusions. He doesn’t just give you information, but tells you how to discern between what’s a current media fad, what’s really going on, and what to be cautious about.
My only criticism is: during the chapter about nitrogen, Dr. Offit doesn’t mention that, while the phenomenon he discusses was a key element, it was Mao’s attempted Great Leap Forward that led to the atrocities that occurred there. A fantastic book about this time in recent history is The Fall and Rise of China.
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- Fed Barona
- 06-03-19
Great format and approach that loses its way
It did start out much like a James Burch "Connections" show which I REALLY liked. These first few chapters followed this script and made my experience comfortable and I couldn't help but anticipate the next facts coming around the corner.
Unfortunately, the author decided to take the scientific facts, which were the stars of his show, and have them take a back seat to his political stance and I had to suffer opinion and a stray from the scientific path he had so well planned for the previous chapters. After that detour, although I was still just as drawn in by the story he presented, we never quite got back on that original "path" of describing a seemingly benign discovery and how it ultimately led to a horrific or tragic outcome. I think those items were still presented, just not as elegantly.
This is still a fantastic book and I thoroughly enjoyed the facts and story that surrounded the history. I learned a lot. Regardless of your political slant, I believe you'll find his addition of a political charge as a distraction and a bit indulgent.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-14-20
Very good narrator
Nice book informative concerning the latest problems of our era and the dangers that exist due to bad science.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-22-20
Disturbing
It goes to show we aren't as smart, as a species, as we like to think we are. Today's miracle cure is tomorrow's quack cure or even killer.
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- Travis Baublitz
- 06-20-19
Amazing!
A very informative and enlightening listen. It truly opened my eyes to many things I took for truth
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- Aizat Mazlan
- 07-27-21
An absolute gem.
Lovely reading. Full of interesting and credible stories. The narrator is great and clear.
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- Jon Harwood
- 03-22-22
Timely: Use, misuse, and abuse of science.
Some very important lessons from high profile episodes in science. Although I don't quite believe every word of it, that's kind of the point.
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- Andrew
- 04-03-22
Thinking Book
Think before you judge and maybe don't make your judgement final. That's what I would call the underlying theme. That and data should impact your judgement more often than feelings. It's got great examples of when science became no longer science and how it effects society.
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- Jennifer
- 01-01-22
Interesting and thought provoking
I really enjoyed the narrative style that explained the invention followed by the unintended consequences.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-17-22
Essential reading
This book is essential reading/listening for anyone interested in health and wellness. There is so much misinformation out there, and this book is an excellent review of critical thinking and scientific method in determining what is beneficial and what is pseudoscience.
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