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Pandora's Lab
Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong | Paul A. Offit
What happens when ideas presented as science lead us in the wrong direction? History is filled with brilliant ideas that gave rise to disaster, and this book explores the most fascinating--and significant--missteps: from opium's heyday as the pain reliever of choice to recognition of opioids as a major cause of death in the U.S.; from the rise of trans fats as the golden ingredient for tastier, cheaper food to the heart disease epidemic that followed; and from the cries to ban DDT for the sake of the environment to an epidemic-level rise in world malaria. These are today's sins of science--as deplorable as mistaken past ideas about advocating racial purity or using lobotomies as a cure for mental illness. These unwitting errors add up to seven lessons both cautionary and profound, narrated by renowned author and speaker Paul A. Offit. Offit uses these lessons to investigate how we can separate good science from bad, using some of today's most controversial creations--e-cigarettes, GMOs, drug treatments for ADHD--as case studies. For every "Aha!" moment that should have been an "Oh no," this book is an engrossing account of how science has been misused disastrously--and how we can learn to use its power for good.
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review
Davidtk20
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Pickpick

The introduction for each chapter is captivating, as it should be. It makes you wants to know more about how each technology went awry. Pandora‘s Lab is an excellent book with a gripping prose and a clear message.

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Megabooks
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What a long strange year it has been! My goal back in January was to read 300 books, and since then Covid has happen, I‘ve actually had Covid, my dad had a stroke, but I‘ve finally been able to make some records and...

My first #bookspinbingo book this month (tagged) was my 300th book!!! So now I‘m actually at 323 books completed! I never would‘ve thought...

Plus I have another blackout bingo!! (With two hibernations...😉)

Megabooks Sarah, I want to thank you for coming up with bookspin, which has really challenged me to stick to a TBR, which I thought was impossible, and to keep reading through hard times. You‘re awesome!! 😘😘💖 @TheAromaofBooks 3y
TrishB Well done 👍🏻🎉 3y
Josee.lit.a.lu.et.lira Wow 🤩🥳 3y
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squirrelbrain Wow! You‘re fabulous! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! That is awesome progress & I'm so glad my challenge that I keep making up as I go along is being helpful! 😂 It's definitely been a weird year but at least we all have books to help us through!!! 3y
atla Amazing! 3y
rockpools 🎉🎉🎉 3y
Deblovestoread Way to go! I know #bookspin has made a huge difference in my reading...my shelves actually have some space. I set my goal at 100 and am at 120 to date. 3y
Reviewsbylola 323?!? Look at you!!! 3y
Bookzombie Wow! 🥳🥳 3y
BarbaraBB That is amazing!!! 3y
Kalalalatja That is so cool! Well done you 🙌 (edited) 3y
KVanRead Phenomenal!!! 3y
batsy Wow, that's fantastic! 3y
Megabooks @TheAromaofBooks books have definitely gotten me through!! 3y
Megabooks @Kdgordon88 thank you!! Bookspin is a game changer and I‘m so glad it‘s helped you make a stretch goal too!! 3y
CoffeeK8 Congrats! 3y
Megabooks @CoffeeK8 thanks!! 3y
britt_brooke Damn, girl! 🙌🏻 3y
Megabooks @britt_brooke thanks friend! 💖 3y
97 likes21 comments
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Addison_Reads
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Pickpick

Fun read with lots of interesting science. Whether you're a science nerd, or new to the subject, this has something for everyone.

It also featured my favorite scientist, Rachel Carson. 😍

41 likes4 stack adds
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Megabooks
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Pickpick

This books looks at some horrible mistakes of (pseudo)science such as eugenics, lobotomies, nitrogenous fertilizers, and chemical weapons. He also has some stands that I DON‘T find controversial but others might such as vaccines are good and too much vitamin supplementation is harmful. Then he makes some conclusions in the final chapter that I don‘t feel we have true long-term evidence about such as e-cigs being non-harmful. ⬇️ 3.5⭐️ #audiobook

Megabooks ⬆️ I agree there is evidence that e-cigs help with smoking cessation and that is beneficial, but we don‘t yet know (the way we do with smoking) what someone who has vaped from 16-80 years old lungs look like. That‘s my problem. #bookspinbingo space 20 3y
73 likes1 comment
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RamsFan1963
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Pickpick

This book was disturbing. We, humans, aren't nearly as smart as we think, too often today's miracle is tomorrow's killer. The chapters on eugenics and lobotomies was especially difficult to listen to, or understand how respected medical societies and learned physicians could have approved of these practices. 4 💥💥💥💥

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SkeletonKey
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Current audiobook.

WOW, WE HAVE MADE SOME BIG MISTAKES. And some that were eerily not mistakes at all.

31 likes2 stack adds
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jb72
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#24B4MONDAY #readathon

Please come join us for our readathon. Have fun and enjoy some good reads! Here is my stack. I‘d like to finish five of them and make progress on Les Misérables.

Andrew65 Yes, everyone, do come and join us and let‘s read ourselves out of these times! 4y
BeansPage YES!!!! Girl!!!! 😘 4y
KristiAhlers OMG Les Mis is MY FAVORITE classic. I read it every other year basically. ❤️ 4y
See All 7 Comments
jb72 @SumisBooks I‘m super excited for this readathon. 4y
jb72 @Katbooklover Wow! That‘s awesome. I‘m so happy I‘m finally delving into it. 4y
Bookwormjillk I‘m going to start Les Mis this weekend too! Can‘t wait for the readathon! 4y
jb72 @Bookwormjillk Awesome! I‘m actually taking five months to read it (one volume per month). Keep me posted on your progress. 4y
34 likes7 comments
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jb72
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#thoughtfulthursday

1. My plan is to finish Sheets and Pandora‘s Lab

2. Tater tot casserole

3. Writing letters, spring cleaning, playing with my dogs

4. If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. Katharine Hepburn (it‘s tattooed on my arm)

Thanks for the tag @JaclynW

JaclynW Great quote! I LOVE tater tot casserole!! 4y
jb72 @JaclynW Me too! I try to make it in different ways each time. 4y
MoonWitch94 Tots are life!!! 😉 Thanks for playing 💜 4y
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Butterfinger Katherine Hepburn is one of my favorites. Such a rebel and classy too. I love her with Cary Grant and her Jo in Little Women will always be my favorite version. 4y
jb72 @Butterfinger I loved her in the African Queen. One of my favorite movies. 4y
Butterfinger @jb72 My daughter's middle name is Rose and I say it is because of the African Queen and Rose Wilder. It is also one of my favorite movies. I love old Hollywood. 4y
jb72 @Butterfinger The leech scene scared me to death as a kid. 4y
JaclynW @jb72 What are some of your variations on the famous casserole? 4y
jb72 @JaclynW Ok here are a few: yesterday‘s was taco with pinto beans and corn. I‘ve also made Cincinnati chili meat and beans. And I‘ve made just plain with gravy. All have cheese on them of course with tater tots on top. 4y
JaclynW @jb72 Yum! Great ideas! 4y
25 likes10 comments
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jb72
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1. Tagged - finishing it up so I can mail it back to @REPollock (sorry I‘m a bit slow in reading this month)
2. Yes maxed out on overdrive 😣 why oh why do we only get a limited number of holds online?!?
3. Two dogs, one cat, four turtles, 13 chickens

#weekendreads

REPollock It‘s okay. I had to read this one in small doses bc every chapter was a new preventable disaster. 4y
jb72 @REPollock Yeah I kind of feel like what I‘m the world are some people thinking. Even the author at times I feel is stretching to get a bigger disastrous feel even though it‘s enough on its own. 4y
REPollock I have enjoyed this book swap, but the two books that I did get to read we‘re both pretty depressing! 4y
jb72 @REPollock Yeah I‘ve felt the same about the two. I‘m so disappointed my book never made the rounds. I really enjoyed it. I never got it back. 4y
27 likes4 comments
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jb72
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1. Currently reading Pandora‘s Lab

2. 🤔 collecting art and craft supplies to stare at in shame

3. Next up is How to Find Love in a Bookshop for my library book club.

wanderinglynn Your answer to No. 2, I do that too! 😂🙌🏻 4y
jb72 @wanderinglynn I am so bad about it! Every time HL has their paper on sale I buy more. 😬 but I‘ve finally started my reading journal. 4y
marleed @jb72 @wanderinglynn That reminds of the line: Why buy something for $19.99 when you can make it with $59 in craft supplies ;) 4y
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jb72 @marleed 😂 absolutely my mindset! 4y
wanderinglynn @marleed 😂😂😂 4y
AceOnRoam LOL, my hobby is buying stationary that I don't need!! 4y
Geenie 🤣 @ number 2. 4y
29 likes7 comments
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jb72
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#wondrouswednesday
1. Probably Dr. Seuss
2. 4 books cases plus a TV stand which holds books and books in bins still and stack in various places.
3. Total chaos

Eggs #2 - lots of books 📚📚📚!! 4y
35 likes1 comment
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jb72
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#Two4Tuesday

1. Generally no - I will say I prefer used books over new books for the most part. I like that a book has history, or that it is gaining new life. Plus I like that it‘s not going to a trash heap (environment).

2. I use my iPad to read from a variety of apps. The app I use the most is probably overdrive.

TheSpineView I like finding books at the used book store too. Helping the environment and your pocketbook! Happy Tuesday! 4y
25 likes1 comment
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BMWtheAuthor
Pickpick

A grave lesson about the consequences of bad science. For the full review, please visit http://benjamin-m-weilert.com/index.php/2019/12/18/book-pandoras-lab-2017/

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Kaila-ann
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Pickpick

Book number 2 for round 7 of #lmpbc - and it was a great choice. Full of information, well researched and well presented. It could have quickly become dry and overwhelming and yet it was approachable and easy to read. It covers 7 different topics, each with its own chapter. I really enjoyed the information and the format.

jb72 Cool 😎 4y
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REPollock
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Pickpick

Interesting, thought provoking, also at times horrifying and depressing. The last chapter demonstrating how to use the lessons of the past to evaluate current concerns is great. This was my #lmpbc swap book, going out to @Kaila-ann hopefully before Thanksgiving!

Kaila-ann I like the lights and I‘m excited for the book 😊! 4y
REPollock @Kaila-ann I have never seen anything like the lights, they had a professional crew come put them up! I‘m impressed. (edited) 4y
Kaila-ann @REPollock a professional crew?! No that‘s a thought 🤔😜. It looks nice tho. 4y
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REPollock
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One more chapter and I‘ll ship this off to the next person in my #lmpbc swap group!

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REPollock
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We start the #lmpbc reads today yes? I‘m so excited for my first one!

SamAnne What is #lmpbc? 4y
BarbaraBB I‘m curious too! 4y
Crazeedi @SamAnne @BarbaraBB you sign up with 3vother people and each picks a book. You each read and then send on to next person, like a round. So 4 months, the books have circulated and back. And you write comments and critiques in books. @suvata oversees, so check with her watch for next round! 4y
24 likes1 stack add3 comments
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REPollock
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Four contenders for the #lmpbc nonfiction round-robin read. What do you think, fellow group members?

I‘ll tag the other three books in comments after I post.

@Kaila-ann @Sbk89 @jb72

See All 6 Comments
jb72 Pandora‘s Lab sounds good to me too. 4y
Sbk89 They all look intriguing! But Pandora‘s lab especially ✋🏻 4y
16 likes6 comments
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CampbellTaraL
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Pickpick

So much insight packed into this book. The title is evocative but this isn't about bashing scientists who got it wrong. Instead, it shows how easy it is to get the masses on board with an idea and to support it with enough zeal to make a cult leader burn with envy.

DDT: I did not know the history before this book. Now that I do, it's infuriating to watch us repeat the same overaction with other things, while turning a blind eye to deregulation.

wanderinglynn I see it happen all the time in government. Humans, even those who should know better, are driven by their emotions, not their brain. Data is boring. It doesn‘t call out to us. It is just there, stoic and impassive. Anecdotes, stories, tales elicit emotion, often strong emotion, tugging at the heart. We often see government decision makers the decisions because the story was compelling. Not because any data proved it. Sad fact, but true. 5y
CampbellTaraL @wanderinglynn Yes! It was eye opening, and a little defeating, to spend so much of my learning on how to manipulate the emotion and fact line when writing about science. I will say that the author of this book does a good job of it, though his son is a professional science writer, I'm sure he helped. 😊 5y
34 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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scowler1
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Pickpick

Excellent book this, even if you don't care much for non-fiction. Flawlessly researched and precise and straight to the point. Favorite mind-blowing part; (spoiler!) How America popularized eugenics, one particular book selling so well it was translated into German. You can guess the rest.

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thereadingowlvina
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Pickpick

A well-researched & well-written book about 7 stories of science gone wrong. Easy to read & understand. If you enjoy science (without too sciency writing) & history, this is a must read!

Rating: 5🌟

For my full review please visit https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2748009261

33 likes2 stack adds
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GlassAsDiamonds
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Pickpick

New chair (I‘m SO in ♥️)! Anyway - focusing. This book! It‘s an amazing, well informed, blistering critique of not so much “science” gone wrong as scientists gone wrong or science done wrong. It‘s a mind boggling and not a little disturbing critique of seven things that didn‘t quite work out the way we‘d have hoped. The book is a fast read but sometimes so heavy I had to put it down for a bit to process. Nonetheless, highly, HIGHLY recommended.

GlassAsDiamonds @Cinfhen - this would knock your #SomethingUnexpected square out of the park. 5y
Cinfhen Oh good!!! Thanks for the suggestion and AWESOME fabric 😍😍😍 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @Cinfhen glad to!! (Totally in love with the fabric! Store forgot to mention the sample wasn‘t true to size 🤦🏻‍♀️ but it‘s ended up an amazing chair!!!). 5y
44 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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GlassAsDiamonds
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🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️💔💔💔

Samplergal Good grief. 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @Samplergal yeah... I went into this chapter secure in the knowledge DTT was evil and Silent Spring was a well researched call to arms based on solid science and came out knowing that millions of children have died in so many countries including the one that‘s currently home because of a hysteria and *wilful* ignorance based ban on DDT.... 💔💔💔🤯🤯🤯 5y
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GlassAsDiamonds
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Damnit. We got there. Having lived with threats of Malaria, Dengue and Chikungunya for a couple of years my preconceived notions on the evils of DDT are starting to wane...🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Next page: “In India between 1952 and 1962, DDT spraying caused a decrease in Malaria cases from 100 million to 60,000-. [when access stoped in the 70‘s as a result of Silent Spring driven environmentalists, these ] increased to 6 million. 💔

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GlassAsDiamonds
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This is about to go wrong.... (it‘s the point of the chapter). Rumour says DDT is still used in India. It horrified me to hear. I didn‘t expect to come around to it being a good thing but I suspect that‘s where we‘re headed at the moment.

As an aside, the life expectancy in one of the Mumbai suburbs I can see from my apartment window is 39. Combination of societal disenfranchisement of slum dwellers, pollution, polio and mosquito borne disease.

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GlassAsDiamonds
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Excuse my poorly drawn arrows but...🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

MayJasper 😠 5y
wordzie 😒😠 5y
21 likes2 comments
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GlassAsDiamonds
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Sound familiar? Horrifyingly, this is a chapter on Eugenics in the 1920‘s and the man who saved the Bison, saved the California redwoods and kickstarted the US National Parks movement, the “the single most effective conservationists in America”, Maddison Grant. He also happens to have been an ardent proponent of the eugenics movement and wrote the treatise that would become the backbone for justifications of the Holocaust.

NOT - lightweight read

CarolynM What makes people believe this sort of nonsense? 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @CarolynM fear? Idiocy? (Honestly, no idea and they were fervent 🤦🏻‍♀️💔😭) 5y
15 likes2 comments
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GlassAsDiamonds
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The quote is “More than three billion people alive today - and billions more in the future - owe their existence to Fritz Herber and Carl Bosch” [who developed the process to remove nitrogen from air for its use in chemical fertilizers] and Puff‘s my stand in. I haven‘t been so blindsided by a book in a long time. Herber, who won a Nobel Prize for this process in 1919 also developed the gas chemical weapons of WWI and what would become Zyklon B.

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GlassAsDiamonds
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😂😂😂 When it‘s not terrifying, this book about seven scientific “advancements” that have actually impeded human health and progress, is quite hysterical.

Weaponxgirl I am one of those people that forgot everything after my last test too 😂👏 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @Weaponxgirl me too!!! (Although it‘s been a while since my last closed book test!! 😂😂😂). 5y
Weaponxgirl @GlassAsDiamonds school, which was so long ago I really know nothing now 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @Weaponxgirl 😂😂😂😂 ( a friends toddlers - THE toddlers - are in their dinosaur phase and I keep thinking “I knew all these at one point”!!!). 5y
20 likes4 comments
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DivineDiana
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Pickpick

One of my reading goals in 2018 is to complete books that I started. This is one of those books that I started last year, and am glad that I finished it! Seven stories of Science gone wrong! The photo is of a lobotomy, an operation that became so popular that Dr. Freedman traveled the country performing them with an ice pick! All of the stories are fascinating, and I learned to question research and not blindly accept opinions without data.

emilyhaldi 😳😳😳 5y
DivineDiana @emilyhaldi I know! 😬This same doctor performed this procedure on Rosemary Kennedy, the sister of John Kennedy! (edited) 5y
Chrissyreadit I worked with someone in a group home many years ago who had a lobotomy in the 1940‘s it was heartbreaking. 5y
See All 9 Comments
Reggie Yikes!!! 5y
mreads If you liked the lobotomy information check out 5y
DivineDiana @Reggie You can say that again! How vulnerable are humans when they are desperate for a cure! 5y
DivineDiana @mreads Thank you for the recommendation! It looks fascinating! 5y
megnews I need to make the same goal. 5y
77 likes1 stack add9 comments
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Kboltz
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Pickpick

Listened on audio, 7 things that we could have done better without. The drug/heroine section is fascinating!

5 likes1 stack add
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REPollock
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Congratulations @Whimsical.Curiosity on your milestone!!

This #tbr was a gift from my mother & I am waiting to be in a headspace to read it bc intellectually I am SO interested, but TBH I am also not doing very well emotionally right now so I‘m careful about what I give headspace to.

Hugged a friend yesterday when we early-voted & went to a nice dinner after.

#hugyofriendsgiveaway

Whimsical.Curiosity Aaaww hugs friend!! 5y
11 likes1 comment
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parasolofdoom
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Pickpick

Really interesting overview of several ultimately harmful scientific advances. Each chapter examines a different thing so they're pretty self-contained which makes for a fairly easy read (if you're like me and start to get distracted during long nonfiction reads).

10 likes1 stack add
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parasolofdoom
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MaleficentBookDragon
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There is no scenario in which I would not buy this. 🔬

julesG Same here. Had to buy it, too. 6y
Crazeedi Looks excellent 6y
Avanders 😆 looks good! ETA: ok bought it. 😳 (edited) 6y
64 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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WanderingBookaneer
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EricaReads Thanks! This is right up my alley! 6y
sherri This was a great book! 6y
73 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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DivineDiana
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Once a year, my Book Club has a luncheon meeting. It was today at the Alumnae House at Bryn Mawr College. The book that we discussed was chosen as the Community Read for the Township, so many activities are planned to support an understanding of the book.

Smangela Gorgeous location 😍 6y
Leftcoastzen Very pretty! 6y
Cinfhen Awwww, looks familiar 😍😍😍 6y
DivineDiana @Smangela @Leftcoastzen It is a beautiful campus! 6y
DivineDiana @Cinfhen I thought you would appreciate it! The author lives in Lower Merion. 6y
76 likes1 stack add5 comments
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argeorge
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Pickpick

This book was extremely interesting - Offit has a way of explaining things to the common man without sacrificing facts or necessary technicality. It touches on a lot of topics & scientific mess ups that have invariably impacted all of us in some way. Definitely a good choice if you like non-fiction/relatable science types.

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kammartinez
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Pickpick

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5 ⭐️s.

Despite a major (for me, since I'm a literature enthusiast with the degree to prove it) fact-checking faux pas in the first chapter, which is also the weakest overall, this book is actually really easy to read, and very informative. It's not anti-science so much as it is a reminder that science is a rigorous discipline and must be apprehended thusly, instead of believed in blindly.