Alexander Fleming: The Man and the Myth

The story of penicillin has become the story of Alexander Fleming: world opinion has conferred upon him sole credit for what is arguably the single most important medical discovery ever made. Gwyn Macfalane's sensitive analysis of this much-mytholigized area of medical history makes a persuasive case for a major reappraisal of Fleming's role. Macfarlane, the widely acclaimed author of Howard Florey (OUP, 1985), discusses Fleming's background and personality, this impressive rise in the medical profession, the crucial discoveries of 1928, and the public recognition and adulation of the 1940s. His account is as compelling a study of human behavior as it is a careful examination of scientific discovery.