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Dangerous Miracle
The Extraordinary History of Antibiotics – and How We’re Burning Through Them
Brief Description
Antibiotics: invented by microbes, mined by humans - and now we are running out. Discover their miraculous history and how we confront their uncertain future in this epic story of progress, power and exploitation. Riveting ... In combining the passion of Robert Macfarlane with the incisiveness...
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Description
Antibiotics: invented by microbes, mined by humans - and now we are running out. Discover their miraculous history and how we confront their uncertain future in this epic story of progress, power and exploitation.
Riveting ... In combining the passion of Robert Macfarlane with the incisiveness of Patrick Radden Keefe, Shaw has announced himself as a brilliant new voice in science writing - Rachel Clarke, Spectator
Antibiotics. Invented by microbes. Mined by humans.
The discovery of antibiotics is one of humanity's greatest achievements, saving millions of lives and changing the world forever.
But, unlike other drugs, each time we take antibiotics we use up a finite resource. And now we are running out.
This is the spellbinding story of how we learned to harness the fossil fuels of medicine - and an urgent call to adapt, so they can hold a place in our future.
This history of scientific discovery and corporate greed chronicles arguably the most significant technological advance of the 20th century ... A lively history and a stark warning - Sunday Times, Best Books of the Year
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781529967784
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 20 August 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Vintage
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 23.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 246g
Pages: 352
About the Author
Liam Shaw is a biologist researching the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance. After a four-year Wellcome funded fellowship at the University of Oxford, he now leads a research group at the University of Bristol. His writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, Morning Star, and Private Eye. Dangerous Miracle is his first book.
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Dangerous Miracle
Antibiotics - one of humanity's greatest achievements, yet they were invented by bacteria. Dangerous Miracle is an epic narrative of scientific discovery and innovation, but also of the exploitation of the natural world in the pursuit of the 'fossil fuels' of medicine. Antibiotics - one of humanity's greatest achievements - but invented by microbes. An epic narrative of discovery and...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
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