The Thinking Man's Fridge

I really want to read this book. I heard about it years ago, but haven't tracked down a copy yet. I haven't looked, really. In fact, I think I've only ever asked in one book store, but they didn't have it.

Here's a review I blatantly plagiarised from Amazon.com:

"According to British journalist Jeffreys' well-documented book, aspirin was born a little more than 100 years ago. That is, the word aspirin was coined in 1899 as a label for a new product, acetylsalicylic acid, manufactured by the German textile dye and pharmaceutical company Bayer. The concoction had been a known pain and fever reliever for well more than 6,000 years, but it took Bayer, which would eventually lose control of its baby in America for more than 75 years, to create the very first drug that owed its existence to a commercial rather than a scientific or medical ethic. Yes, aspirin was the earliest offspring of the increasingly uncomfortable yet wildly profitable marriage of medicine and commerce. What with Americans knocking back about 80 billion (yes, billion) 300 mg aspirin tablets a year, to say nothing of even more billions taken throughout the rest of the world, the story of this little white pill makes fascinating reading. Besides the drug's widely known medical applications for pain and fever relief, heart attack and stroke prevention, and more, its colorful history includes drama, pathos, plot twists, humor, intrigue and even a handful of scurrilous and despicable characters."

I find it particularly intriguing because Bayer was once a part of IG Farben, the company responsible for producing the Nazi's supplies of Zyklon B, used for gassing humans in their numerous extermination camps throughout World War II, when the German military leaders decided that using bullets to execute their prisoners was too slow, and far too stressful for their soldiers. Bayer also used slave labour extensively throughout the war, using prisoners from concentration camps such as Mauthausen. They also reportedly sponsored the experiments of Josef Mengele (Google him - I'm not going into it now). One of Bayer's executives, Fritz ter Meer, was actually sentenced to 7 years prison by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal. On his release he became the supervisory board chairman of Bayer until 1961.

I find it funny that the social conscience can be so readily placated by a head-ache pill. I suppose if a company like that are still free to trade in the global economy, IBM have nothing to worry about. Ironically, the Bayer scientist who discovered the right formulation of Aspirin, and indeed came up with the name 'Aspirin' was Jewish, and therefore never credited, with Bayer claiming it was discovered by an Ayran scientist.

As fate would have it, Bayer also discovered Heroin (which was a Bayer trademark until around 1914) and Mustard Gas (which is much more dangerous than normal Mustard), but on the flipside they also discovered the polycarbonate used for making Lego, and Levitra, used for fixing erectile dysfunction, so, you know... it's not all doom and gloom.

Update: I bought a brand new copy off Amazon.com last night. It cost me a meagre $1.98 for the book, and a whopping $12.49 for postage - I love the global shopping experience! I'll let you know how it reads...