I told You So by Matt Kaplan

About the Book:

An energetic and impassioned work of popular science about scientists who have had to fight for their revolutionary ideas to be accepted―from Darwin to Pasteur to modern day Nobel Prize winners.

For two decades, Matt Kaplan has covered science for the Economist. He’s seen breakthroughs often occur in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the research community, and how support can be withheld for those who don’t conform or have the right connections. In this passionately argued and entertaining book, Kaplan narrates the history of the 19th century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who realized that Childbed fever―a devastating infection that only struck women who had recently given birth―was spread by doctors not washing their hands. Semmelweis was met with overwhelming hostility by those offended at the notion that doctors were at fault, and is a prime example of how the scientific community often fights new ideas, even when the facts are staring them in the face.

In entertaining prose, Kaplan reveals scientific cases past and present to make his case. Some are familiar, like Galileo being threatened with torture and Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó being fired when on the brink of discovering how to wield mRNA–a finding that proved pivotal for the creation of the Covid-19 vaccine. Others less so, like researchers silenced for raising safety concerns about new drugs, and biologists ridiculed for revealing major flaws in the way rodent research is conducted. Kaplan shows how the scientific community can work faster and better by making reasonably small changes to the forces that shape it.

My Review:

I had no idea science did not advance easily when new ideas are presented with evidence. Kaplan opened my eyes there. He also opened my eyes to the pressure scientists experience to publish or to earn their employers money. Unfortunately, I did not find the book captivating. Kaplan seems to take a long time to tell each story. He also inserts much from his own ideas and experiences. There could have been more of the subject and less of him. He has definitely done his research, as the extensive footnotes show. Committed science readers will do okay with this book but I do not think it will attract new readers on the subject.

My rating: 3/5 stars.

 

About the Author:

Matt Kaplan is a science correspondent at The Economist where he has written about everything from paleontology and parasites to virology and viticulture over the course of two decades. His writing has also appeared in National Geographic, New Scientist, Nature, and The New York Times. He is the author of The Science of Monsters and Science of the Magical, and co-author of David Attenborough’s First Life: A Journey Through Time. He completed a thesis in Paleontology at Berkeley, and one in science journalism at Imperial College, London. In 2014 he was awarded a Knight Fellowship to study at MIT and Harvard. Born in California, he lives in England. Photo credit: Zach Le Coze

St. Martin's Press, 288 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)