Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Great Feuds in Medicine: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever


Some of the most interesting and sometimes very bitter disputes between medical researchers, starting from the opposition Harvey faced when he dared to claim that the circulation of blood doesn’t work the way ancient authorities had described and ending at the feud between Gallo and Montagnier about who really discover the HIV virus. (Well, in that case I didn’t have much sympathy for Montagnier who seems to have totally made himself a fool with his latest research involving the radio signals from DNA. See for example NeuroLogica blog.).
It seems that the recipe to produce disputes is not only to find out a new, controversial medical fact, but being extremely stubborn about it up to point being abrasive against anyone questioning the invention in anyway without worrying too much about really proving the discovery. Being too sure even while being right doesn’t seem to work too well. A very interesting and even enjoyable book.
250 pp.

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