The Remedy

Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis

By: Thomas Goetz

Narrated by: Donald Corren

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The riveting history of tuberculosis, the world’s most lethal disease, the two men whose lives it tragically intertwined, and the birth of medical science.

In 1875, tuberculosis was the deadliest disease in the world, accountable for a third of all deaths. A diagnosis of TB - often called consumption - was a death sentence. Then, in a triumph of medical science, a German doctor named Robert Koch deployed an unprecedented scientific rigor to discover the bacteria that caused TB. Koch soon embarked on a remedy - a remedy that would be his undoing.

When Koch announced his cure for consumption, Arthur Conan Doyle, then a small-town doctor in England and sometime writer, went to Berlin to cover the event. Touring the ward of reportedly cured patients, he was horrified. Koch’s “remedy” was either sloppy science or outright fraud.

But to a world desperate for relief, Koch’s remedy wasn’t so easily dismissed. As Europe’s consumptives descended upon Berlin, Koch urgently tried to prove his case. Conan Doyle, meanwhile, returned to England determined to abandon medicine in favor of writing. In particular, he turned to a character inspired by the very scientific methods that Koch had formulated: Sherlock Holmes.

Capturing the moment when mystery and magic began to yield to science, The Remedy chronicles the stunning story of how the germ theory of disease became a true fact, how two men of ambition were emboldened to reach for something more, and how scientific discoveries evolve into social truths.

©2014 Thomas Goetz (P)2014 Recorded Books

Story of Scientific Discovery, Ego and Medicine

Surprisingly interesting and oddly competitive and egotistical tale of the men who discovered bacteria, anthrax and the cure for tuberculosis . . . in a time when consumption killed thousands of people and the average life span was 40, and the medical "science" of the day was still using leaches to adjust the body's humors . . . these medical pioneers were outnumbered and thought ridiculous . . . yet they persisted . . . sometimes beyond their own usefulness . . . great listen . . .

Good read for the infectious diseases enthusiast

The story acts as a reminder of how microbes affect our world in the context of the history of two great scientsists--Koch and Pasteur and the great British novelist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Good fast paced story telling and good narration make it a worthwhile buy for hour car trips.

Too long.

An interesting topic but certainly does not have the depth of other subjects that Isaacson has covered. Therefore this book could have been well written with half the pages.
The reader was a little slow and I read most of the book at 1.1 but as it advanced to the last few chapters I found myself speeding it up to 1.2 and 1.3 and 1.5.

History plus.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Not only a fascinating story of how a TB cure was finally developed, but also fascinating life histories of the researchers involved in this effort.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Remedy?

Many.

What does Donald Corren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A lively, varied intonation makes the material even more interesting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The dreadful statistics about the number of people stricken by this terrible disease.

Any additional comments?

I do not agree with the author's reliance upon The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as an
explanation for how science proceeds. One is, of course, free to speculate to their heart's content, but it is the interpretation of relevant data that carries the day. This business about first proposing an overarching paradigm, accepting it as "true," and then carrying out studies to verify the paradigm are, at best, a romantic misinterpretation of science as process. Ultimately, it is the bench scientist that carries the day.

TB and Sherlock Holmes?

I was looking for another "Demon Under the Microscope," or "The Ghost Map" and I initially thought I found it... lots of good information about early germ theory and the Koch versus Pasteur battles for discovery. Reader was good, flow of information was interesting right up until the story of TB is rudely interrupted by the birth of the Sherlock Holmes stories... the rubber band holding the two men's lives together was way overstretched. The end of the book finally gets back on point and eventually the work on TB resumes. It was worth my time to listen, but go for the above books or "Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lack' or "Emperor of all Maladies" first.

My impression of the book Tuberculosis.

This book required reading 3 times the first event was technical the second made it a little understandable in the third made it make a bunch of sense. This is a good book albeit somewhat technical, but in order to make the point it needs to be technical. Regardless the book itself is worth your time if you have any interest in the scientific processes that modern medicine has to deal with in order to assure our quality of living.

The Remedy.

I enjoy informative books that share the historical culture of the times regarding the main story.

thought-provoking

This book is primarily about Robert Koch and his discovery of first Anthrax bacteria and then Tuberculosis. In many ways this is the history of the germ theory and tuberculosis. The middle part of the book is about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle traveled to Berlin to hear Koch present his findings of a cure for tuberculosis. Doyle wrote a newspaper article that exposed the treatment a failure. Goetz pointed out that Doyle’s wife died of TB. The author also covers the battle between Koch and Pasteur, both who won the Noble prize in medicine. Goetz covers the success of hygiene and public education in the control of infectious disease as well as access to clean water and sewage control. The epilogue is about the first success of antibiotics against TB and now the problem of drug resistance TB. It is a reminder that the ancient disease of tuberculosis is still with us and still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. “The Remedy” is well written, well researched, highly entertaining, interesting and thought-provoking book. Donald Corren did a good job narrating the book

An Awkward Marriage & Misleading Title

There are some very interesting side stories and anecdotes in Goetz's book. Especially about Conan Doyle. My love of Sherlock came late in life and I never paid much attention to his creator. That portion of the book made me want to read a full biography about the author.

However, as I read this book it seemed that the author wanted to write biographies about both Koch and Conan Doyle, felt like he didn't have enough for two complete books so he looked for a tenuous thread between the two and tried to use that thread to cobble together one biographical book about two people. And to me, the thread just wasn't sufficient to tie these two stories into one cohesive book. It made the entire book feel false.

Additionally, the title was inaccurate. Koch, who for all of his unpleasant personality traits and poor personal choices, evidently did contribute greatly to the science of medical research, didn't cure tuberculosis. He probably set the cause back several years. And while Conan-Doyle spent a few days in Germany viewing Koch's botched results and his wife died of tuberculosis several years later, he evidently had nothing to do with the "quest to cure tuberculosis."

Most people who achieve greatness in life also fail miserably, at least once. The two go hand in hand. It seems to me that while Koch's ultimate dishonesty has to be considered in any well-rounded evaluation of the man, it pales in comparison to his accomplishments and should not be the centerpiece of a biography.

And Conan Doyle dabbled in medicine while he struggled to be a writer. As soon as he met with success in his writing, he dropped medicine and never looked back. His interest in tuberculosis that prompted his visit to Germany had more to do with writing about the event than it ever had to do with questing to cure tuberculosis.

So, two stories, both with merit, but they were artificially forced together in a single book, and both suffer because of it.

Amazing Book

I loved this book and the performance was spectacular. I highly recommend for those who are interested in science.