Insulin - The Crooked Timber

[uses] a blend of profound research, lively writing and personal knowledge of diabetes * Andrew Robinson, Nature *The lengthy bibliography and endnotes are a testament to the extensive research that has been carried out to produce this fascinating account. * Arpan K. Banerjee, Hektoen International *The story of insulin over the past 100 years, as the historian of science (and former molecular biologist) Kersten Hall shows in this dense and fascinating book, is also a microcosm of developments in science more widely, and of changes in the politics and economics of healthcare.[…] The pleasures of this book lie mainly in the storytelling detail and the gossipy richness of the lives, friendships and feuds glimpsed in the hubbub of decades pursuing the improvement of human health. * Steven Poole, Daily Telegraph *… comprehensive account of the modern medical history of the hormone… * Jerome Groopman, New York Review of Books *A fascinating book by an author with excellent credentials, well written and meticulously researched. * Geoff Gill, University of Liverpool *A timely book, pulling together many interesting stories about the scientific side of insulin. * John Pickup, King’s College London School of Medicine *Reviews the events around the discovery of insulin in an original and well-documented manner. * Pierre Lefèbvre, University of Liège *Written in a clear and engaging style, the book provides a fresh take on historic events and also delves into aspects that have not been adequately explored previously. * Jeffrey Friedman, Rockefeller University *It is a good read and scholarly account. * Arpan Banerjee, Hektoen International Journal *Insulin-the Crooked Timber is essential reading for anyone concerned with the history of insulin. * Social History of Alcohol and Drugs. *Hall’s The Crooked Timber expertly combines careful attention to the science with thoughtful consideration of its historical and philosophical dimensions. * Neelanjana Ray, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences *I expected it to be interesting - or at least the part dealing with Dick [my father] and Archer’s work. What I didn’t expect was that it would be a ‘page turner’ from start to finish! * Mr Patrick Synge, Son of Nobel laureate Richard Synge (Chemistry 1952) *

Kersten Hall graduated with an honours degree in biochemistry from St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford, and completed a PhD in gene regulation in adenoviruses before working for the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds. He then hung up his lab coat and began to write about science. His book ‘The Man in the Monkeynut Coat’ (OUP 2014) tells the story of pioneering physicist William Astbury whose research into wool fibres led him to make the very firststudies of the structure of DNA. The book was shortlisted for the 2015 British Society for the History of Science Dingle Prize and was featured on a list of ‘Books of 2014’ in The Guardian. He iscurrently a visiting fellow in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds where his research concerns the history of molecular biology but after a shocking diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes ten years ago he turned to the story of insulin.