Accidental Medical Discoveries: How Tenacity and Pure Dumb Luck Changed the World

By Robert W. Winters

Book Overview

Many of the world's most important and life-saving devices and techniques were often discovered purely by accident. Serendipity, timing, and luck played a part in the discovery of unintentional cures and breakthroughs: A plastic shard in an RAF pilot's eye leads to the use of plastic for the implantable lens. The inability to remove a titanium chamber from rabbit's bone leads to dental implants. Viagra was discovered by a group of chemists, working in the lab to find a new drug to alleviate the pain of angina pectoris. A stretch of five weeks of unusually warm weather in 1928 played a role in assisting Dr. Alexander Fleming in his analysis of bacterial growth and the discovery of penicillin. After studying the effects of the venom injected by the bite of a deadly pit viper snake, chemists developed a groundbreaking drug that works to control blood pressure. Accidental Medical Discoveries is an entertaining and enlightening look at the creation of 25 medical inventions that have changed the world - unintentionally. The book is presented in a lively and engaging way, and will appeal to a wide variety of readers, from history buffs to trivia fanatics to those in the medical profession.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1510712461
• ISBN13: 9781510712461
• Release Date: November 2016
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.9"