Penicillin is the drug of the twentieth century. It was the first
of the antibiotics that, for decades after the Second World War,
underpinned a popular belief that infectious disease had at last
met its match. With the emergence of 'superbugs' in recent decades
these hopes have faded. Across the world, we are warned that
widespread antibiotic abuse will inexorably erode the drugs'
efficacy and our own earlier confidence in them. Penicillin pulls
these different but conjoined stories into a compelling narrative
spanning the second half of the twentieth century. Using a wealth
of new research, Robert Bud sets the discovery and use of
penicillin in the broader context of social and cultural change
across the world. He examines the drug's critical contributions to
medicine and agriculture, and he investigates the global spread of
resistant bacteria as antibiotic use continues to rise. Clearly
written and highly topical, his book will be of great interest to
historians, scientists, and anyone wishing to understand
penicillin's seismic impact on modern life. Penicillin: Triumph and
Tragedy Curated by Robert Bud A new exhibition looking back over 50
years will explore changing attitudes to antibiotics and launch at
the Science Museum on Thursday 10 May 2007 . In the 1950s
antibiotics were cast as wonder drugs, but strains of bacteria
resistant to penicillin were already widespread. They caused many
deaths, most dramatically, infecting hospitalised victims of Asian
flu in the autumn of 1957. Now we fear MRSA. How have attitudes,
hopes and fears changed in half a century? Press information from
Stephen Bromberg, Science Museum Press Office,
[email protected] 020 7942 4352
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