The Discovery of Insulin: Special Centenary Edition

Front Cover
University of Toronto Press, Sep 30, 2021 - Biography & Autobiography - 352 pages

The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921–2 was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the treatment of disease. Insulin, discovered by the Canadian research team of Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John Macleod, was a wonder drug with the ability to bring diabetes patients back from the brink of death. It was no surprise that in 1923 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded for its discovery.


In this engaging and award-winning account, historian Michael Bliss draws on archival records and personal adventures to recount the fascinating story behind the discovery of insulin – a story as much filled with fiery confrontation and intense competition as medical dedication and scientific genius.


With a new preface by Michael Bliss and a foreword by Alison Li, the special centenary edition of The Discovery of Insulin honours the one hundredth anniversary of insulin’s discovery and its continued significance a century later.

 

Contents

Preface for the Centenary 2021 Edition
5
What Happened at Toronto?
11
Chapter One A Long Prelude
20
Chapter Two Bantings Idea
45
Chapter Three The Summer of 1921
59
Chapter Four A Mysterious Something
84
Chapter Five Triumph
104
Chapter Six Unspeakably Wonderful
129
Chapter Seven Resurrection
154
Chapter Eight Who Discovered Insulin?
189
Chapter Nine Honouring the Prophets
212
Chapter Ten A Continuing Epilogue
234
Notes
249
Sources
283
Index
299
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2021)

Michael Bliss was a Canadian historian and a University Professor Emeritus in the Department of History and the History of Medicine Program at the University of Toronto. He was the author of numerous award-winning books in business and political history as well as the history of medicine, including popular biographies of Sir Frederick Banting, Sir William Osler, and Harvey Cushing. He was an Officer of the Order of Canada, an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the first historian to be inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Alison Li is an historian of science and medicine based in Toronto. She is the author and editor of multiple books, including J.B. Collip and the Development of Medical Research in Canada. Her current project, Wondrous Transformations: A Maverick Physician, the Science of Hormones, and the Birth of the Transgender Revolution, will be published by University of North Carolina Press.