Synopses & Reviews
A fascinating and shocking historical exposé, The Malaria Project is the story of America's secret mission to combat malaria during World War IIa campaign modeled after a German project which tested experimental drugs on men gone mad from syphilis.
American war planners, foreseeing the tactical need for a malaria drug, recreated the German model, then grew it tenfold. Quickly becoming the biggest and most important medical initiative of the war, the project tasked dozens of the countrys top research scientists and university labs to find a treatment to remedy half a million U.S. troops incapacitated by malaria.
Spearheading the new U.S. effort was Dr. Lowell T. Coggeshall, the son of a poor Indiana farmer whose persistent drive and curiosity led him to become one of the most innovative thinkers in solving the malaria problem. He recruited private corporations, such as today's Squibb and Eli Lilly, and the nations best chemists out of Harvard and Johns Hopkins to make novel compounds that skilled technicians tested on birds. Giants in the field of clinical research, including the future NIH director James Shannon, then tested the drugs on mental health patients and convicted criminalsincluding infamous murderer Nathan Leopold.
By 1943, a dozen strains of malaria brought home in the veins of sick soldiers were injected into these human guinea pigs for drug studies. After hundreds of trials and many deaths, they found their magic bullet,” but not in a U.S. laboratory. America 's best weapon against malaria, still used today, was captured in battle from the Nazis. Called chloroquine, it went on to save more lives than any other drug in history.
Karen M. Masterson, a journalist turned malaria researcher, uncovers the complete story behind this dark tale of science, medicine and war. Illuminating, riveting and surprising, The Malaria Project captures the ethical perils of seeking treatments for disease while ignoring the human condition.
Review
“The outbreak of World War II pushed malaria up the American agenda. Troops found themselves in many highly infected areas, including Africa, the southern Mediterranean and, above all, Asia. [Karen] Mastersons analysis of the havoc caused by the disease and of the research effort by federally funded scientists and clinicians makes a compelling read. Her book is brimming with colorful characters—some admirable, some less so…. Mastersons gripping tale unfolds seamlessly.”
—The Wall Street Journal Review
“Mastersons gripping tale unfolds seamlessly.”—
The Wall Street Journal “A fascinating story of the hunt for a killer as medical science emerges from its own dark ages.”—Joel Achenbach, Author of A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea
“Part detective tale, part history . . . [with] characters as diverse as Hitler and Dr. Seuss.”—Thomas Frank, Investigative Reporter and Pulitzer Prize Finalist
Synopsis
From the dynamic thinker routinely compared to Malcolm Gladwell, E. O. Wilson, and James Gleick, The Ghost Map is a riveting page-turner with a real-life historical hero that brilliantly illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of viruses, rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry. These are topics that have long obsessed Steven Johnson, and The Ghost Map is a true triumph of the kind of multidisciplinary thinking for which he's become famous-a book that, like the work of Jared Diamond, presents both vivid history and a powerful and provocative explanation of what it means for the world we live in.
The Ghost Map takes place in the summer of 1854. A devastating cholera outbreak seizes London just as it is emerging as a modern city: more than 2 million people packed into a ten-mile circumference, a hub of travel and commerce, teeming with people from all over the world, continually pushing the limits of infrastructure that's outdated as soon as it's updated. Dr. John Snow—whose ideas about contagion had been dismissed by the scientific community—is spurred to intense action when the people in his neighborhood begin dying.
With enthralling suspense, Johnson chronicles Snow's day-by-day efforts, as he risks his own life to prove how the epidemic is being spread.
When he creates the map that traces the pattern of outbreak back to its source, Dr. Snow didn't just solve the most pressing medical riddle of his time. He ultimately established a precedent for the way modern city-dwellers, city planners, physicians, and public officials think about the spread of disease and the development of the modern urban environment.
The Ghost Map is an endlessly compelling and utterly gripping account of that London summer of 1854, from the microbial level to the macrourban-theory level—including, most important, the human level.
Watch a QuickTime trailer for this book.
Synopsis
A shocking exposé of Americas secret mission to combat malaria during World War II with a campaign that tested experimental drugs on men gone mad from syphilis.
Foreseeing the need for a malaria drug, American war planners re-created Germanys research model, then grew it tenfold. Spearheading the effort, Dr. Lowell T. Coggeshall recruited private corporations as well as chemists from Harvard and Johns Hopkins to make novel compounds, which were then tested on human subjects.
By 1943, a dozen strains of malaria were injected into mental health patients and convicted criminalsincluding the infamous murderer Nathan Leopold. After hundreds of trials and many deaths, the magic bullet” was found not in a U.S. lab, but captured from the Nazis in battle. Still used today, chloroquine went on to save more lives than any other drug in history.
Journalist turned malaria researcher Karen M. Masterson uncovers the story behind this dark tale of wartime science seeking treatments for disease while ignoring the human condition.
INCLUDES PHOTOS
About the Author
Karen M. Masterson is a former political reporter for the Washington Bureau of the Houston Chronicle who left newspapers to pursue her interests in microbiology. On a teaching fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, she stumbled upon the story in The Malaria Project while researching at the National Archives. In 2005, she won a Knight journalism fellowship to study malaria at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and in rural Tanzania. She has a Masters of Journalism from the University of Maryland and an MA in science writing from Johns Hopkins Universitys acclaimed Writing Seminars. She lives with her husband and twin daughters outside Washington, D. C.