Vitamin Discoveries and Disasters: History, Science, and Controversies

A new work on the history of vitamins and the brilliant men and women who discovered the existence and nature of these small molecules so vital to our health.

Vitamin Discoveries and Disasters: History, Science, and Controversies describes the emergence of nutritional science and its contributions to our understanding of how the body functions. It is an absorbing look at the men and women, many little known in their lifetimes, whose medical detective work helped us conquer a number of devastating health conditions, including some forms of mental illness.

Each chapter of Vitamin Discoveries and Disasters focuses on a specific vitamin, describing the researchers, the research, and the historic and scientific contexts for its discovery. Together, these chapters chart the ongoing conflict between physicians who saw illness as caused by organisms and those who saw illness as a result of dietary deficiency. A concluding chapter shows how our stronger grasp of the effects of vitamin deficiencies on large populations can be used to the utmost benefit of society.

Author: Frances Frankenburg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 07/23/2009
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780313354755

Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2010
Scitech Book News 09/01/2009 pg. 67

About the Author

Frances Rachel Frankenburg, MD, is associate professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine, lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and adjunct clinical professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.