About the Author:
Jeff Goldberg’s on-the-scene account of the discovery of endorphins in Anatomy of a Scientific Discovery established him as a leading science writer. His articles on topics ranging from the controversy of fetal cell transplantation to the amazing minds of infants appeared in Life, Discover, Omni, and other magazines internationally. Goldberg is the author of Flowers in the Blood: The Story of Opium, and the novel Notes on a Bamboo Flute. He resides in South Orange, New Jersey.
Review:
“In this fascinating book about the discovery of endorphins, the discovery itself and the scientists involved are treated with equal success.”
–The New Yorker
“Trust in Goldberg, and you may wind up knowing a bit more about how scientists work, as well as a bit more about the brain, too.”
–Des Moines Register
“A gripping blend of human drama and science lore.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“Discloses the drama behind this scientific breakthrough, and reveals the human side of modern science.”
–Science News
“The endorphin story is a fascinating one, full of controversy, fierce competition, but not simple answers or quick cures.”
–St. Louis Post Dispatch
“Goldberg admirably tells the story of the science and the scientists in this cutting-edge work.”
–Los Angeles Times
“What with the passions of scientific privacy, some test tube nitty-gritty, the mystery of the brain, little guys versus big guys, and millions of dollars at stake, the book moves right along.”
–New York Times Book Review
“An international race during the 1970s among scientists in the U.S. and Scotland to isolate endorphinsnatural, morphine-like substances present in the brain is recounted in clear and colorful detail by science writer Goldberg (coauthor of Flowers in the Blood). He gives an account of the discovery (by the team of Hans Kosterlitz and John Hughes, in a poorly funded lab in Aberdeen) of a nonaddictive narcotic chemical in pigs' brains, and then follows with a contrasting account of the high-tech research conducted by scientists at American universities on opiate receptors and experiments designed to stimulate natural pain-blocking, much of the American effort motivated by the need to combat heroin addiction. In 1976, the controversy-fraught laboratory competition was superseded by the race among drug companies to develop the most successful of the 20 types of opiate peptides; the prize would be domination of a market serving an estimated 20 million chronic pain sufferers in the U.S. alone. While some researchers have sought inconclusively to establish a relationship between endorphins and mental illness, others have focused on a proposed linkage between endorphins and pleasure, learning, stress and sexual response.”
–Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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