Interesting collection of micro-histories. I liked the vaccine chapter and while I appreciate giving the forgotten Lady Mary Wortley Montagu credit for the smallpox inoculation, there is a glossing over of the fact that it was "discovered" and created by brown people before her.

Thorough, engaging, well-researched. On the lighter side of non-fiction, likely due to some emphasis on breadth rather than depth (but I think this is an asset).

Seems uniquely well tailored to both those who live/work in this world daily (I’d put myself in this category) and those who are less knowledgeable at baseline.

A worthy read I’d recommend to all.

I loved the second to last chapter! I love proof of altruism in the healthcare field. The audiobook voice was good too.

Fascinating. I enjoyed how Hager presented a few of the big drugs that have revolutionized medicine and walked me through the history and discovery of each. It reminds me that how I view modern medicine and the drugs involved are very new relative to the evolution of humanity. Somehow this perspective makes me realize how lucky I am and how lucky we are as a society that so many diseases that one upon a time decimated families and communities have basically been eradicated. There are newer and more dangerous diseases out there but over time our ability to understand and handled them has progressed significantly and that gives me hope for the humanity's future and the future of medicine.

Super interesting and informative. I studied biology in college and they don't give you as much historical context around many of these drugs when you learn about them.

One slight issue with the audiobook is that the chapters on the recording don't match up with the chapters listed on Audible, so that can get confusing but it doesn't effect the information.

A comprehensive review of drugs that changed medicine. Higher rating warranted if not for the chapter on statins. They do save lives & I fear some readers may be discouraged from believing that.

I learned a lot of interesting facts, but also, this is mostly a book about opiates and statins.