Penicillin and the new Elizabethans

British Journal for the History of Science

Volumn 31, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 305-333

  Bud, Robert ^a  

^a SCIENCE MUSEUM   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 0039036379     PISSN: 00070874     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0007087498003318     Document Type: Article

References (163)

1. One such quotation may suffice: 'But the net result is that, like penicillin and other similar stories, monoclonal antibodies may join the list of the ones that got away from the UK', David Dickson, 'California set to cash in on British discovery', Nature (21 June 1979), 279, 664. At the Wellcome Trust Witness Seminar on monoclonal antibodies, the conscious awareness of the precedent of penicillin was cited by Basil Bard who had worked at NRDC, and John Galloway articulately recalled the sensitivity of John Duncan, administrative secretary of MRC, to the penicillin story. E. M. Tansey and P. P. Catterall (eds.), 'Technology transfer in Britain: the case of monoclonal antibodies', Contemporary Record (1995), 9, 562-85.
2. One such quotation may suffice: 'But the net result is that, like penicillin and other similar stories, monoclonal antibodies may join the list of the ones that got away from the UK', David Dickson, 'California set to cash in on British discovery', Nature (21 June 1979), 279, 664. At the Wellcome Trust Witness Seminar on monoclonal antibodies, the conscious awareness of the precedent of penicillin was cited by Basil Bard who had worked at NRDC, and John Galloway articulately recalled the sensitivity of John Duncan, administrative secretary of MRC, to the penicillin story. E. M. Tansey and P. P. Catterall (eds.), 'Technology transfer in Britain: the case of monoclonal antibodies', Contemporary Record (1995), 9, 562-85.
3. Angus Wilson, 'The fatal side-effects of modern medicine', Evening Standard, 21 July 1995.
4. See letters from Mitchell Notaras, 'Fleming fallacy', New Scientist (8 July 1995), 147, no. 1985, 52-3; Milton Wainwright, 'In the mould', New Scientist (5 August 1995), 147, no. 1989, 54; Paul Hewlett, 'Unfair to Florey', New Scientist (2 September 1995), 147, no. 1993, 51.
5. See letters from Mitchell Notaras, 'Fleming fallacy', New Scientist (8 July 1995), 147, no. 1985, 52-3; Milton Wainwright, 'In the mould', New Scientist (5 August 1995), 147, no. 1989, 54; Paul Hewlett, 'Unfair to Florey', New Scientist (2 September 1995), 147, no. 1993, 51.
6. See letters from Mitchell Notaras, 'Fleming fallacy', New Scientist (8 July 1995), 147, no. 1985, 52-3; Milton Wainwright, 'In the mould', New Scientist (5 August 1995), 147, no. 1989, 54; Paul Hewlett, 'Unfair to Florey', New Scientist (2 September 1995), 147, no. 1993, 51.
7. The Money Programme, BBC 2, 27 October 1996.
8. The Radio 4 morning news, Saturday 28 June 1997, and the Guardian of that day both trailed the 11 July sale at Christies (MSI 7741) of a 1935 sample of penicillin, lot 104, which was purchased by the Science Museum. The purchase, whose value was not great by London auction-house standards, was reported in the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian and in a nine-paragraph illustrated article in The Times, 12 July 1997. A sample auctioned by Sotheby's on 8 March 1996 was expected to reach a price of between £10,000 and £15,000 but fetched a bidding price of £20,000. Sotheby's Sale LN6140, lot no. 491.
9. The Times, op. cit. (2).
10. Robert Bud, 'Science, meaning and myth in the museum', Public Understanding of Science (1995), 4, 1-16.
11. The balance of factors underlying the decline of infectious disease is still disputed. See Thomas McKeown, The Role of Medicine: Drama, Mirage or Nemesis?, Oxford, 1979; Anne Hardy, The Epidemic Streets: Infectious Disease and the Rise of Preventive Medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, 1993; and Leonard Wilson, 'The historical decline of tuberculosis in Europe and America: its causes and significance', Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (1990), 45, 366-96.
12. The balance of factors underlying the decline of infectious disease is still disputed. See Thomas McKeown, The Role of Medicine: Drama, Mirage or Nemesis?, Oxford, 1979; Anne Hardy, The Epidemic Streets: Infectious Disease and the Rise of Preventive Medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, 1993; and Leonard Wilson, 'The historical decline of tuberculosis in Europe and America: its causes and significance', Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (1990), 45, 366-96.
13. The balance of factors underlying the decline of infectious disease is still disputed. See Thomas McKeown, The Role of Medicine: Drama, Mirage or Nemesis?, Oxford, 1979; Anne Hardy, The Epidemic Streets: Infectious Disease and the Rise of Preventive Medicine, 1856-1900, Oxford, 1993; and Leonard Wilson, 'The historical decline of tuberculosis in Europe and America: its causes and significance', Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (1990), 45, 366-96.
14. H. O. Lancaster, Expectations of Life: A Study in the Demography, Statistics and History of World Mortality, New York, 1990, 269. For doctors' reminiscences, see G. H. Stollerman, 'The global impact of penicillin: then and now', Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine (1993), 60, 112-19; D. A. Watson et al., 'A brief history of the pneumococcus in biomedical research: a panoply of scientific discovery', Clinical Infectious Diseases (1993), 17, 913-24.
15. H. O. Lancaster, Expectations of Life: A Study in the Demography, Statistics and History of World Mortality, New York, 1990, 269. For doctors' reminiscences, see G. H. Stollerman, 'The global impact of penicillin: then and now', Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine (1993), 60, 112-19; D. A. Watson et al., 'A brief history of the pneumococcus in biomedical research: a panoply of scientific discovery', Clinical Infectious Diseases (1993), 17, 913-24.
16. H. O. Lancaster, Expectations of Life: A Study in the Demography, Statistics and History of World Mortality, New York, 1990, 269. For doctors' reminiscences, see G. H. Stollerman, 'The global impact of penicillin: then and now', Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine (1993), 60, 112-19; D. A. Watson et al., 'A brief history of the pneumococcus in biomedical research: a panoply of scientific discovery', Clinical Infectious Diseases (1993), 17, 913-24.
17. Lewis Thomas, 'Science and health - possibilities, probabilities and limitations', in Time of Plague. The History and Social Consequences of Lethal Epidemic Disease (ed. Arien Mack), New York, 1991, 56-73.
18. Colin Dollery, The End of an Age of Optimism: Medical Science in Retrospect and Prospect, London, 1978, 1.
19. Claudine Herzlich and Janine Pierret, Illness and Self in Society (tr. Elborg Forster), Baltimore, 1987. See especially ch. 3, 'Registers of memory and forgetting', 38-48. See also the work of Mildred Blaxter in Britain, reported for instance in Mildred Blaxter and Elizabeth Patterson, Mothers and Daughters: A Three-generational Study of Health Attitudes and Behaviour, London, 1982; and Mildred Blaxter, 'Why do victims blame themselves', in Worlds of Illness: Biographical and Cultural Perspectives on Health and Disease (ed. Alan Radley), London, 1993, 124-42, on 129. And, Jocelyn Cornwell, Hard-Earned Lives: Accounts of Health and Illness from East London, London, 1984.
20. Claudine Herzlich and Janine Pierret, Illness and Self in Society (tr. Elborg Forster), Baltimore, 1987. See especially ch. 3, 'Registers of memory and forgetting', 38-48. See also the work of Mildred Blaxter in Britain, reported for instance in Mildred Blaxter and Elizabeth Patterson, Mothers and Daughters: A Three-generational Study of Health Attitudes and Behaviour, London, 1982; and Mildred Blaxter, 'Why do victims blame themselves', in Worlds of Illness: Biographical and Cultural Perspectives on Health and Disease (ed. Alan Radley), London, 1993, 124-42, on 129. And, Jocelyn Cornwell, Hard-Earned Lives: Accounts of Health and Illness from East London, London, 1984.
21. Claudine Herzlich and Janine Pierret, Illness and Self in Society (tr. Elborg Forster), Baltimore, 1987. See especially ch. 3, 'Registers of memory and forgetting', 38-48. See also the work of Mildred Blaxter in Britain, reported for instance in Mildred Blaxter and Elizabeth Patterson, Mothers and Daughters: A Three-generational Study of Health Attitudes and Behaviour, London, 1982; and Mildred Blaxter, 'Why do victims blame themselves', in Worlds of Illness: Biographical and Cultural Perspectives on Health and Disease (ed. Alan Radley), London, 1993, 124-42, on 129. And, Jocelyn Cornwell, Hard-Earned Lives: Accounts of Health and Illness from East London, London, 1984.
22. Claudine Herzlich and Janine Pierret, Illness and Self in Society (tr. Elborg Forster), Baltimore, 1987. See especially ch. 3, 'Registers of memory and forgetting', 38-48. See also the work of Mildred Blaxter in Britain, reported for instance in Mildred Blaxter and Elizabeth Patterson, Mothers and Daughters: A Three-generational Study of Health Attitudes and Behaviour, London, 1982; and Mildred Blaxter, 'Why do victims blame themselves', in Worlds of Illness: Biographical and Cultural Perspectives on Health and Disease (ed. Alan Radley), London, 1993, 124-42, on 129. And, Jocelyn Cornwell, Hard-Earned Lives: Accounts of Health and Illness from East London, London, 1984.
23. Claudine Herzlich and Janine Pierret, Illness and Self in Society (tr. Elborg Forster), Baltimore, 1987. See especially ch. 3, 'Registers of memory and forgetting', 38-48. See also the work of Mildred Blaxter in Britain, reported for instance in Mildred Blaxter and Elizabeth Patterson, Mothers and Daughters: A Three-generational Study of Health Attitudes and Behaviour, London, 1982; and Mildred Blaxter, 'Why do victims blame themselves', in Worlds of Illness: Biographical and Cultural Perspectives on Health and Disease (ed. Alan Radley), London, 1993, 124-42, on 129. And, Jocelyn Cornwell, Hard-Earned Lives: Accounts of Health and Illness from East London, London, 1984.
24. George Bankoff, The Conquest of Disease. The Story of Penicillin, London, 1946.
25. Richard Anthony James Weight, '"Pale Stood Albion": The Formulation of English National Identity 1939-56'; Ph.D. thesis. University of London, 1995.
26. Jacob Bronowski, 'The story the exhibition tells', reprinted in A Tonic to the Nation (ed. Mary Banham and Bevis Millier), London, 1976, 144. This volume, unlike the original, credits Bronowski directly for this quotation.
27. The discussion over the Festival of Britain is to be found in the Florey papers, 98 HF 37.8.1-61, at the Royal Society of London, Archives. In the catalogue the treatment was described with careful even-handedness: 'This the century's most important discovery in clinical medicine, sprang from the historic work of Fleming and Florey. The discovery of penicillin has stimulated the search for similar therapeutic substances'. Ian Cox, The South Bank Exhibition: A Guide to the Story it Tells, London, 1951, 77.
28. Donald J. McGraw, 'On leaving the mine: historiographic resource exhaustion in antibiotics history', Dynamis (1991), 11, 415-36 describes the classic scientific account. David Wilson, in Penicillin in Perspective, London 1976, points out, 'In Britain there is an addition to this story, for penicillin is widely held to be the supreme example of a national failing, the inability of the country's industrial technology to take advantage of, and reap benefit from, the discoveries of the scientists in its laboratories. It is widely believed that Britain lost, or gave up, the patents on penicillin to America and has since paid many millions of dollars to US drug companies for the antibiotic' (pp. 3-4).
29. Donald J. McGraw, 'On leaving the mine: historiographic resource exhaustion in antibiotics history', Dynamis (1991), 11, 415-36 describes the classic scientific account. David Wilson, in Penicillin in Perspective, London 1976, points out, 'In Britain there is an addition to this story, for penicillin is widely held to be the supreme example of a national failing, the inability of the country's industrial technology to take advantage of, and reap benefit from, the discoveries of the scientists in its laboratories. It is widely believed that Britain lost, or gave up, the patents on penicillin to America and has since paid many millions of dollars to US drug companies for the antibiotic' (pp. 3-4).
30. Wai Chen, 'The laboratory as business: Sir Almroth Wright's vaccine programme and the construction of penicillin', in The Laboratory Revolution in Medicine (ed. Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams), Cambridge, 1992, 245-92.
31. See for example David Wilson, op. cit. (17). The entire literature is surveyed by McGraw, op. cit. (17).
32. See for example David Wilson, op. cit. (17). The entire literature is surveyed by McGraw, op. cit. (17).
33. According to the Times Index, in 1945 there were twenty-three references, in 1946 there were thirty and in 1947 twenty-three. Thereafter they fell to just a few a year.
34. David Adams, The Greatest Good to the Greatest Number: Penicillin Rationing on the American Home Front, 1940-1945, New York, 1991.
35. Vivien Quirke, 'Penicillin and post-war reconstruction in Britain and France: science and industry in the balance', La Lettre de la Maison Française d'Oxford (1997), 6, 87-98.
36. Jeffrey C. Alexander and Philip Smith, 'Social science and salvation: risk society as mythical discourse', Zeitschrift für Soziologie (1996), 25, 251-62.
37. Roy Porter, 'Introduction', in Myths of the English (ed. Roy Porter), Cambridge, 1993, 1-11.
38. See Bud, op. cit. (7), 1-16.
39. See Raphael Samuel, Theatres of Memory: Volume I, Past and Present in Contemporary Culture, London, 1994, and Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson, The Myths We Line By, London, 1990. The opposing view was put by Patrick Wright, On Living in an Old Country. The National Past in Contemporary Britain, London, 1985.
40. See Raphael Samuel, Theatres of Memory: Volume I, Past and Present in Contemporary Culture, London, 1994, and Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson, The Myths We Line By, London, 1990. The opposing view was put by Patrick Wright, On Living in an Old Country. The National Past in Contemporary Britain, London, 1985.
41. See Raphael Samuel, Theatres of Memory: Volume I, Past and Present in Contemporary Culture, London, 1994, and Raphael Samuel and Paul Thompson, The Myths We Line By, London, 1990. The opposing view was put by Patrick Wright, On Living in an Old Country. The National Past in Contemporary Britain, London, 1985.
42. For an analysis of such myths and the use of icons see Bud, op. cit. (7).
43. See for instance Flora E. S. Kaplan (ed.), Museums and the Making of 'Ourselves': The Role of Objects in National Identity, London, 1994. The classic work on the idea of nation-building is Benedict Anderson, Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, London, 1983.
44. See for instance Flora E. S. Kaplan (ed.), Museums and the Making of 'Ourselves': The Role of Objects in National Identity, London, 1994. The classic work on the idea of nation-building is Benedict Anderson, Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, London, 1983.
45. Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, 'Between history and memory: centennial and bicentennial images of Lavoisier', Isis (1996), 87, 481-99; Lorraine Ward, 'The cult of relics: Pasteur material at the Science Museum', Medical History (1994), 38, 51-72. The argument here is summarized in Robert Bud, 'The museum, meaning and history: the case of chemistry', in Chemical Science in the Modern World (ed. Seymour Mauskopf), Philadelphia, 1993, 277-94.
46. Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, 'Between history and memory: centennial and bicentennial images of Lavoisier', Isis (1996), 87, 481-99; Lorraine Ward, 'The cult of relics: Pasteur material at the Science Museum', Medical History (1994), 38, 51-72. The argument here is summarized in Robert Bud, 'The museum, meaning and history: the case of chemistry', in Chemical Science in the Modern World (ed. Seymour Mauskopf), Philadelphia, 1993, 277-94.
47. Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, 'Between history and memory: centennial and bicentennial images of Lavoisier', Isis (1996), 87, 481-99; Lorraine Ward, 'The cult of relics: Pasteur material at the Science Museum', Medical History (1994), 38, 51-72. The argument here is summarized in Robert Bud, 'The museum, meaning and history: the case of chemistry', in Chemical Science in the Modern World (ed. Seymour Mauskopf), Philadelphia, 1993, 277-94.
48. Martin Harwit, An Exhibit Denied: Lobbying the History of Enola Gay, New York, 1996; Philip Nobile (ed.), Judgement at the Smithsonian, New York, 1995.
49. Martin Harwit, An Exhibit Denied: Lobbying the History of Enola Gay, New York, 1996; Philip Nobile (ed.), Judgement at the Smithsonian, New York, 1995.
50. A 1943 surface fermentation vessel, inventory number 1963-372, was donated by Glaxo, and collections of early penicillin fermentation apparatus and material (1964-457 and 1964-458) were donated by the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology where Florey had worked.
51. This sample has the inventory number 1997-663. In addition there is the sample number whose purchase was cited above (number 1997-731).
52. Linda Colley, Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837, New Haven, CT, 1992.
53. It could be argued that one potent word describing that new culture was 'decline'. Of course the loss of penicillin became a potent symbol of that story. See Jim Tomlinson, 'Inventing "decline": the falling behind of the British economy in the post-war years', Economic History Review (1996), 49, 731-57.
54. For post-war Anglo-American relations see John Dickie, 'Special' No More. Anglo-American Relations: Rhetoric and Reality, London, 1994; Daniel Snowman, Kissing Cousins: Britain and America: An Interpretation of their Cultures 1945-1975, London, 1977.
55. For post-war Anglo-American relations see John Dickie, 'Special' No More. Anglo-American Relations: Rhetoric and Reality, London, 1994; Daniel Snowman, Kissing Cousins: Britain and America: An Interpretation of their Cultures 1945-1975, London, 1977.
56. See M. Spiering, Englishness, Foreigners and Images of National Identity in Postwar Literature, Amsterdam, 1992. During the war there had been many hot debates over strategy between the allies. Montgomery, the British general and national hero, had publicly scorned Eisenhower and had made the most of his role in rescuing the Americans from defeat in the Battle of the Bulge. For an account of this famous press-conference given by Montgomery, see Nigel Hamilton, Monty. The Field-Marshal 3944-1976, London, 1986, 300-6. The memory of such rivalry between allied armies long endured.
57. See M. Spiering, Englishness, Foreigners and Images of National Identity in Postwar Literature, Amsterdam, 1992. During the war there had been many hot debates over strategy between the allies. Montgomery, the British general and national hero, had publicly scorned Eisenhower and had made the most of his role in rescuing the Americans from defeat in the Battle of the Bulge. For an account of this famous press-conference given by Montgomery, see Nigel Hamilton, Monty. The Field-Marshal 3944-1976, London, 1986, 300-6. The memory of such rivalry between allied armies long endured.
58. See Weight, op. cit. (14).
59. Jean Rikhoff Hill, 'The British press on "the Yanks"', New Republic, 23 August 1954, 9-12.
60. For the views of the government and civil servants see John Saville, The Politics of Continuity: British Foreign Policy and the Labour Government, 1945-46, London, 1946. See also Stephen Howe, Anticolonialism in British Politics: The Left and the End of Empire, 1918-1964, Oxford, 1993. For Beaverbrook's views of American intentions see A. J. P. Taylor, Beaverbrook, London, 1972, 555-6.
61. For the views of the government and civil servants see John Saville, The Politics of Continuity: British Foreign Policy and the Labour Government, 1945-46, London, 1946. See also Stephen Howe, Anticolonialism in British Politics: The Left and the End of Empire, 1918-1964, Oxford, 1993. For Beaverbrook's views of American intentions see A. J. P. Taylor, Beaverbrook, London, 1972, 555-6.
62. For the views of the government and civil servants see John Saville, The Politics of Continuity: British Foreign Policy and the Labour Government, 1945-46, London, 1946. See also Stephen Howe, Anticolonialism in British Politics: The Left and the End of Empire, 1918-1964, Oxford, 1993. For Beaverbrook's views of American intentions see A. J. P. Taylor, Beaverbrook, London, 1972, 555-6.
63. See Randall Bennett Woods, A Changing of the Guard: Anglo-American Relations, 1941-1946, Chapel Hill, 1990.
64. Lieutenant Peart, 22 November 1945, Parliamentary Debates, 416 H. C. DEB 5s. cols. 690-91.
65. 'Penicillin research. "Momentous result" from £320 grant', The Times, 14 March 1944.
66. George Griffiths, 29 November 1944, Parliamentary Debates, 406 H. C. DEB 5s. cols. 59-60.
67. Mr Salt, 15 May 1945, Parliamentary Debates, 410 H. C. DEB 5s. col. 2273.
68. J. P. Swann, 'The search for synthetic penicillin during World War 2', BJHS (1983), 16, 154-88.
69. H. H. Dale, 'Summary of points on which views should be clear before international conference meets', 17 May 1944, RG97 Box 1, Folder 3, US National Archives, Washington DC.
70. John C. Sheehan, The Enchanted Ring: The Untold Story of Penicillin, Cambridge, MA, 1982, 4.
71. For the long negotiations on the Anglo-American penicillin agreement see the papers preserved in the Public Record Office, Kew (hereafter PRO), FD1/5341.
72. A. N. Richards, 'Production of penicillin in the United States (1941-1945)', Nature (1 February 1964), 201, 441-45.
73. Chain papers, PP/EBC, B67, Contemporary Medical Archives Centre, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London.
74. A. N. Richards to Dr Hyman, 24 September 1963, Richards papers, Box 2 FF 55, Archives, University of Pennsylvania. I am grateful to the archivist for access to the Richards papers and for permission to quote from them.
75. On the United States see Adams, op. cit. (21).
76. Penicillin itself could be seen as a family. It was defined not in terms of its chemical structure but in terms of the enzymes that destroyed it. See Andrew J. Moyer and Robert O. Coghill, 'The effect of phenylacetic acid on penicillin production', journal of Bacteriology (1947), 53, 329. Roger Adams described penicillin as 'any sulfur-containing hacteriostatic or bactericidal compound, characterized by hydrolysis to penicillamine which may be obtained as the result of the growth of any strain of Penicillium notatum or of any other organism'. Roger Adams to Hans Clark, 10 November 1943, RG227 Box 3, Penicillin Committee Folder, US National Archives. Washington DC.
77. Bush to Richards, 29 October 1958, Richards papers, Box 24 FF 16, Archives, University of Pennsylvania.
78. For the 5 per cent claim see I. N. Helsby to W. E. Dommett, 27 November 1944, BT 305/4, PRO; for the Moyer claim see Vannevar Bush to Edward Mellanby, 30 January 1945, FD1/6845, PRO.
79. C. M. Scott to Landsborough Thomson, 18 May 1950, FD1/2175, PRO.
80. The text of this letter from Hugh-Jones to Conant is reproduced in John T. Connor to Vannevar Bush, 28 October 1952, Bush papers, Container 27, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
81. John Nichols to Vannevar Bush, 11 August 1952, Bush papers, Container 88, Library of Congress.
82. Connor to Bush, 28 October 1952, p. 9, Bush papers, Container 27, Library of Congress.
83. Bush to Connor, 29 October 1952, Bush papers, Container 27, Library of Congress.
84. Bush to John Nichols, 29 October 1952, Bush papers, Container 27, Library of Congress.
85. It has been argued that the development of the British hydrogen bomb was in many ways also driven by suspicion of American loyalties and stability. Katherine Pryne, 'Art or article: the need for and nature of the British hydrogen bomb, 1954-58', Contemporary Record (1995), 9, 562-85.
86. Robert Holland, The Pursuit of Greatness. Britain and the World Role, 1900-1970, London, 1991.
87. Robert Hewison, Culture and Consensus: England, Art and Politics since 1940, London, 1995. See especially ch. 3, 'The new Britain'.
88. 'Editorial', Twentieth Century (1953), 153, 404.
89. Sally Horrocks, 'Science, Technology and Post-war Reconstruction: The Case of Industrial Research,' paper presented at the South Kensington Institute for the History of Technology, 27 November 1996.
90. Robert Coghill to Hans Clarke, 6 February 1945, RG97 Box 1, Folder 4, US National Archives, Washington DC.
91. Anticipated penicillin exports were reported in R. Higson to John Roberts, 20 November 1951, MH 136/65, PRO. For general exports see Whitaker's Almanac, London, 1954, 610-11.
92. Charles Webster, The Health Services since the War. Volume 1: Problems of Health Care. The National Health Service before 1957, London, 1988, 223. Aneurin Bevan explained the rising cost of drugs by the scientific progress exemplified by penicillin, cortisone and streptomycin. 'National Health Service. Memorandum by the Minister of Health 30 March 1950', CAB129/39, PRO.
93. See also Rudolf Klein, The Politics of the National Health Service, London, 1983, 36.
94. Gwyn Macfarlane, Alexander Fleming, The Man and the Myth, London, 1984, 206.
95. Florey to Dr Clive Fitts, 20 May 1952, Florey papers, 98 HF 38.3.22, Royal Society of London.
96. On NRDC see also S. T. Keith, 'Inventions, patents and commercial development from governmentally financed research in Great Britain: the origins of the National Research Development Corporation', Minerva (1981), 19, 92-122, G. E. Haigh, 'The National Research Development Corporation: An Historical Study', M.Sc. thesis, University of Manchester, 1970-71.
97. On NRDC see also S. T. Keith, 'Inventions, patents and commercial development from governmentally financed research in Great Britain: the origins of the National Research Development Corporation', Minerva (1981), 19, 92-122, G. E. Haigh, 'The National Research Development Corporation: An Historical Study', M.Sc. thesis, University of Manchester, 1970-71.
98. 'National Research Trust Corporation: Report of Sub-Committee on Functions and Constitution of the Trust', Board of Trade, 17 April 1946, BT 258/332, PRO.
99. 'National Research Development Corporation. Notes of a Meeting held on 4th February 1948', BT 258/332, PRO.
100. For the House of Lords where the Bill was first introduced see: Viscount Hall, 29 April 1948, Parliamentary Debates, 155 H. L. DEB 5s. col. 570.
101. In the Commons the Bill was introduced by Harold Wilson, 11 June 1948, Parliamentary Debates, 451 H. C. DEB 5s. cols. 2677-86. Both cited penicillin, see Wilson, col. 2682.
102. Sir William Shepherd, 11 June 1948, Parliamentary Debates, 451 H. C. DEB 5s. cols. 2712-13.
103. '£5 million to stop foreigners filching our ideas', Daily Herald, 14 April 1948.
104. Patents and Design Acts, Final Report of the Departmental Committee, Reports from the Commissioners, vol. xiii (1946-47), CMD 7206.
105. See E. Abraham, 'Selective reminiscences of beta-lactam antibiotics: early research on penicillin and cephalosporins', Bioessays (1990), 12, 601-6. The organization's death-knell was, however, sounded a quarter- century later when another generation of administrators failed to patent monoclonal antibodies discovered in Cambridge in 1975, see Tansey and Catterall, op. cit. (1).
106. See E. Abraham, 'Selective reminiscences of beta-lactam antibiotics: early research on penicillin and cephalosporins', Bioessays (1990), 12, 601-6. The organization's death-knell was, however, sounded a quarter-century later when another generation of administrators failed to patent monoclonal antibodies discovered in Cambridge in 1975, see Tansey and Catterall, op. cit. (1).
107. I am most grateful to the archivist and curator of St Mary's Hospital for the access he has provided to his collections.
108. The deed for the generous endowment is preserved in the Florey papers, 98 HF 38.1.15, Royal Society of London.
109. St Mary's Hospital, Annual Report 1945, 13; 'The exhibition of penicillin and modern medicine', St Mary's Hospital Gazette (October 1945), 51, 120-1.
110. St Mary's Hospital, Annual Report 1945, 13; 'The exhibition of penicillin and modern medicine', St Mary's Hospital Gazette (October 1945), 51, 120-1.
111. Lord Moran, 16 April 1946, Parliamentary Debates, 140 H. L. DEB 5s. col. 824: 'Every discussion among consultants and specialists ... has been dominated the last few years by one fact, by one fear, that the hospitals would come under the control of the local authorities.' For Moran's campaign see Frank Honigsbaum, Health, Happiness and Security: The Creation of the National Health Service, London, 1989.
112. Lord Moran, 16 April 1946, Parliamentary Debates, 140 H. L. DEB 5s. col. 824: 'Every discussion among consultants and specialists ... has been dominated the last few years by one fact, by one fear, that the hospitals would come under the control of the local authorities.' For Moran's campaign see Frank Honigsbaum, Health, Happiness and Security: The Creation of the National Health Service, London, 1989.
113. On post-war nationalization and the threat to ICI see Robert Millward and John Singleton, The Political Economy of Nationalisation in Britain 1920-1950, Cambridge, 1995. I am grateful to David Edgerton for pointing this volume out to me.
114. David Rhees, 'The Chemists' Crusade: The Rise of an Industrial Science in Modern America, 1907-1922', Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1987, University Microfilms 17625817. For treatments of drugs see Harry M. Marks, 'Cortisone, 1949: a year in the political life of a drug', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1992), 66, 419-39; David Cantor, 'Cortisone and the politics of empire: imperialism and British medicine', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1993), 67, 463-93, and 'Cortisone and the politics of drama, 1949-1955', in Medical Innovations in Historical Perspective (ed. John Pickstone), London, 1992, 165-84.
115. David Rhees, 'The Chemists' Crusade: The Rise of an Industrial Science in Modern America, 1907-1922', Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1987, University Microfilms 17625817. For treatments of drugs see Harry M. Marks, 'Cortisone, 1949: a year in the political life of a drug', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1992), 66, 419-39; David Cantor, 'Cortisone and the politics of empire: imperialism and British medicine', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1993), 67, 463-93, and 'Cortisone and the politics of drama, 1949-1955', in Medical Innovations in Historical Perspective (ed. John Pickstone), London, 1992, 165-84.
116. David Rhees, 'The Chemists' Crusade: The Rise of an Industrial Science in Modern America, 1907-1922', Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1987, University Microfilms 17625817. For treatments of drugs see Harry M. Marks, 'Cortisone, 1949: a year in the political life of a drug', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1992), 66, 419-39; David Cantor, 'Cortisone and the politics of empire: imperialism and British medicine', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1993), 67, 463-93, and 'Cortisone and the politics of drama, 1949-1955', in Medical Innovations in Historical Perspective (ed. John Pickstone), London, 1992, 165-84.
117. David Rhees, 'The Chemists' Crusade: The Rise of an Industrial Science in Modern America, 1907-1922', Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1987, University Microfilms 17625817. For treatments of drugs see Harry M. Marks, 'Cortisone, 1949: a year in the political life of a drug', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1992), 66, 419-39; David Cantor, 'Cortisone and the politics of empire: imperialism and British medicine', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1993), 67, 463-93, and 'Cortisone and the politics of drama, 1949-1955', in Medical Innovations in Historical Perspective (ed. John Pickstone), London, 1992, 165-84.
118. 'In memoriam. The British coal industry', Fortune (October 1946), 34, no. 4, 121.
119. Richard Tedlow, Keeping the Corporate Image: Public Relations and Business, 1900-1950, Greenwich, CT, 1979.
120. Sylvester T. J. Ryan, '"Opinion" in US v ICI', cited by E. A. Bingen, 'United States of America v. Imperial Chemical Industries', 5 October 1951, 3-4, quoted by W. J. Reader, Imperial Chemical Industries: A History, 2 vols., Oxford, 1975, ii, 444.
121. P. C. Allen, Diary, 5 June 1942, quoted in Reader, op. cit. (88), ii, 433.
122. P. C. Allen, Diary, 30 May 1942, cited in Reader, op. cit. (88), ii, 433.
123. Memorandum from A. J. Quig to the Management Board, 31 May 1941, ICHO/CFD/4688(i), ICI Archives. For access to this and other papers I am extremely grateful to the Librarian at ICI plc, Ms Sheena Russell.
124. 'Memorandum', A. J. Quig to the Management Board, 31 May 1941, ICHO/CFD/4688(i), ICI Archives.
125. 'Memorandum', Sidney Rogerson to R. E. Slade, 25 March 1941, ICHO/CFD/4688(i), ICI Archives.
126. Trevor Williams, private communication. See also 'Endeavour: half a century of publication, 1942-92', Endeavour (1992), 16, 1-2, E. M. Tansey and C. C. Booth, 'The British Medical Bulletin 1943-1993', British Medical Bulletin (1993), 49, 1-16.
127. Trevor Williams, private communication. See also 'Endeavour: half a century of publication, 1942-92', Endeavour (1992), 16, 1-2, E. M. Tansey and C. C. Booth, 'The British Medical Bulletin 1943-1993', British Medical Bulletin (1993), 49, 1-16.
128. McGowan to H. G. Wells, 29 January 1942, ICHO/D1R/1093, ICI Archives.
129. Lord Melchett to Lord Cherwell, 4 October 1941, Box 258, ICHO/DIR/1093, ICI Archives.
130. Sidney Rogerson to A. J. Quig, 3 April 1941, ICHO/CFD/4688(i), ICI Archives.
131. Quoted in Jonathan Liebenau, 'The British success with penicillin', Social Studies of Science (1987), 17, 69-86.
132. 'Penicillin. Developing the discovery. A reply to critics', The Times, 12 February 1944.
133. Quoted in Reader, op. cit. (88), ii, 425.
134. 'Extract from Bulletin 1 February 1944', ICHO/CFD/4681, ICI Archives.
135. Sidney Rogerson to the Chairman, 4 February 1944, 'Report on the Glasgow Speech', ICHO/CFD/4681, ICI Archives.
136. Morrison to McGowan, II April 1944, ICHO/CFO/4681, ICI Archives.
137. Chain to B. C. Wright, 20 September 1944, Chain papers, PP/EBC, Contemporary Medical Archives Centre, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London.
138. Chain to Basil Wright, 11 September 1944, Chain papers, PP/EBC, Contemporary Medical Archives Centre, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London.
139. Calvin Wright to Florey, 26 May 1944, Florey papers, 98 HF 35.11.18, Royal Society of London. Florey's response dated 30 May is also in the Florey papers, 98 HF 35.11.20.
140. I am indebted to Susan Lindee for kindly letting me use her manuscript research on the history of penicillin, 'Technology for a Miracle: Pfizer Inc.'s Production of Penicillin in Brooklyn, 1941-1945', A report to the Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY, 1990. She tells the story of Ratcliffe's book, pp. 179-80.
141. Richards to A. Baird Hastings, 8 January 1945, Richards papers, Box 24 FF17, Archives, University of Pennsylvania.
142. J. D. Ratcliffe, Yellow Magic: The Story of Penicillin, New York, 1945.
143. Chain to Tizard, 17 July 1945, Chain papers, PP/EBC, Contemporary Medical Archives Centre, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London.
144. Ronald W. Clark, The Life of Ernst Chain: Penicillin and Beyond, London, 1985, 114.
145. Macfarlane, op. cit. (70), 255-7.
146. Florey to Mellanby, 19 June 1944, Florey papers, 98 HF 36.4.107, Royal Society of London.
147. L. J. Ludovici, Fleming: Discoverer of Penicillin, London, 1952.
148. Mellanby to Florey, 30 June 1944, Florey papers, 98 HF 36.4.106, Royal Society of London.
149. Quoted in Macfarlane, op. cit. (70), 257.
150. J. G. Weightman, 'Loyal thoughts of an ex-Republican', Twentieth Century (1953), 153, 409.
151. Philip Gibbs, The New Elizabethans, London, 1953, 19.
152. R. J. Unstead, People in History: From Caractacus to Alexander Fleming, London, 1957, 493.
153. Private communication to Robert Bud from David Gadsby, 20 June 1994.
154. See the rear cover of the May 1957 Mentor Book edition, of Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and the Fox. An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History, New York, 1957.
155. A. Rupert Hall, Ballistics in the Seventeenth Century: A Study in the Relations of Science and War with Reference Principally to England, Cambridge, 1952. On the deeply ideological meaning of the history of science at the time see Regis Cabrai, 'Herbert Butterfield (1900-79) as a Christian historian of science', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science (1996), 27, 547-64.
156. A. Rupert Hall, Ballistics in the Seventeenth Century: A Study in the Relations of Science and War with Reference Principally to England, Cambridge, 1952. On the deeply ideological meaning of the history of science at the time see Regis Cabrai, 'Herbert Butterfield (1900-79) as a Christian historian of science', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science (1996), 27, 547-64.
157. I. Bernard Cohen, Science, Servant of Man, Boston, MA, 1948, 20-32.
158. I. B. Cohen to Florey, 20 July 1948, Florey papers, 98 HF 37.1.39, Royal Society of London.
159. 'Penicillin and modern research', Lancet (14 January 1950), 1, 76-7.
160. André Maurois, La Vie de Sir Alexander Fleming, Paris, 1959. Maurois describes his commission by Lady Fleming in the foreword to his book.
161. James D. Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, London, 1968. Two other wartime achievements, nuclear power and the computer were also conceived by academics and generated a popular historiography in which heroes, Einstein and Babbage respectively, were given key roles that grossly diminished the significance of those more directly involved. These cases are so similar that we must ask whether the histories created in the heat of both the Second World War and the subsequent cold war reflected the propaganda needs of those wars as much as history. To what extent was the role of history to reassure the public about the maintenance and ongoing fruitfulness of old values and ways, at the same time as quite new forms of innovation and society were being spawned?
162. Ritchie Calder, 'The man we would not listen to', New Statesman (3 October 1953), 46, 368-70; Florey to Ritchie Calder, 5 November 1953, Florey papers, 98 HF 37.13.20, Royal Society of London.
163. Note in Florey papers, 98 HF 37.8.1-61, Royal Society of London.