Nobody Believed It

Claims that a textbook is wrong usually turn out to be mistaken. This book examines the exceptions: discoveries dismissed by experts that later proved correct.

One doctor used himself as an experiment after his arguments failed. A drug nearly disappeared because it did not treat the disease it was designed for. A journal rejected a reading that contradicted accepted theory, while another finding was written off for years as contamination. Several discoveries were dismissed in print; some of the people behind them were vindicated too late to benefit.

Their findings now inform pharmacy treatments, doctors' work and familiar health advice, often without anyone mentioning their origins. Each chapter draws on published papers and rejection letters, patents and clinical notes, company archives and newspapers from the time.