Pharmaceutical Achievers


Book Description

This biographical collection highlights individuals who made outstanding achievements in the arenas of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Pharmaceutical Achievers presents chronologically the major directions of pharmaceutical research and, in their historical context, the breakthroughs in treating various diseases. It concludes with a look at tomorrow's medicines. This work is particularly useful in the classroom, where its accounts of challenges and triumphs may inspire students to consider careers that support pharmaceutical research and development.




Chemical Achievers


Book Description

This book was designed to help teachers supplement science curricula with human stories of discovery in the chemical sciences. Chemical Achievers presents the lives and work of two types of achievers. First are the historical greats, those chemical scientists most often referred to in introductory courses. Second are those scientists who made contributions in areas of the chemical sciences that are of special relevance to modern life and the career choices students will make. The human faces summarized in this book range from Robert Boyle to Glenn Seaborg and Stephanie Kwolek. In this lively and comprehensive collection of photographs and biographies, Bowden illuminates how much the chemical sciences owe to the individual achiever. Over 150 images can be easily reproduced as overhead transparencies or other visual teaching aids.







American Scientists


Book Description

Profiles more than 200 American men and women who made significant contributions to science during the twentieth century.




The Rise of Western Power


Book Description

The West's history is one of extraordinary success; no other region, empire, culture, or civilization has left so powerful a mark upon the world. The Rise of Western Power charts the West's achievements-representative government, the free enterprise system, modern science, and the rule of law-as well as its misdeeds-two frighteningly destructive World Wars, the Holocaust, imperialistic domination, and the Atlantic slave trade. Adopting a global perspective, Jonathan Daly explores the contributions of other cultures and civilizations to the West's emergence. Historical, geographical, and cultural factors all unfold in the narrative. Adopting a thematic structure, the book traces the rise of Western power through a series of revolutions-social, political, technological, military, commercial, and industrial, among others. The result is a clear and engaging introduction to the history of Western civilization.




Smallpox, Syphilis and Salvation


Book Description

Since ancient times the search for cures for the great scourges that have afflicted humankind has been an ongoing quest, but it is only within the last 200 years that major breakthroughs have occurred and the development of modern medicine has accelerated. The stories behind these miraculous cures are those of intense rivalries and jealousies, bitter public humiliation, unswerving dedication, subterfuge, and great personal struggles. Often these medical advances have truly changed the world. When Edward Jenner developed the concept of vaccination, and with it the cure for smallpox, he found a way to defeat a disease that had affected half a billion people - more than all those affected by wars and other epidemics combined. And while the Black Death still lingers in pockets around the world, it no longer threatens to destroy entire civilisations as it once did. Smallpox, Syphilis and Salvation uncovers the compelling stories of the men and women, innovations and accidents that have led to diseases from polio to syphilis, diphtheria to diabetes, tetanus to leukaemia no longer being the death sentences they once were. It also sounds a note of warning - for some of these diseases are fighting back. It is estimated that tuberculosis now claims one life every fifteen seconds, while new 'superbugs' are resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics. Diseases may once again threaten to crush the world's population, either in the form of biological warfare or simply because they want to survive as much as we do...




Reaction!


Book Description

ReAction! Chemistry in the Movies gives a scientist's and artist's response to the dark and bright sides of chemistry found in 140 films, most of them contemporary Hollywood feature films but also from a few others. This book explores the two movie faces of this supposedly neutral science.




The Demon Under the Microscope


Book Description

In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of sulfa, the first antibiotic and the drug that shaped modern medicine. The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. Sulfa saved millions of lives—among them those of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.—but its real effects are even more far reaching. Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved, and sold; transformed the way doctors treated patients; and ushered in the era of modern medicine. The very concept that chemicals created in a lab could cure disease revolutionized medicine, taking it from the treatment of symptoms and discomfort to the eradication of the root cause of illness. A strange and colorful story, The Demon Under the Microscope illuminates the vivid characters, corporate strategy, individual idealism, careful planning, lucky breaks, cynicism, heroism, greed, hard work, and the central (though mistaken) idea that brought sulfa to the world. This is a fascinating scientific tale with all the excitement and intrigue of a great suspense novel.




Mergent's Dividend Achievers Summer 2004


Book Description

Definitive Guide To Companies That Have Increased Their Cash Dividends To find the most consistent dividend-paying stocks, professional investment managers, analysts, and knowledgeable individual investors use Mergent s Dividend Achievers(tm) — the definitive guide for sound investments. Published four times a year, Mergent's Dividend Achievers features the latest data on a unique universe of companies with a history of regularly rewarding shareholders. Mergent has been highlighting companies with outstanding dividend records since 1979 and boasts a century of experience in quality financial information publishing. Each quarterly handbook features updated profiles on approximately 300 Dividend Achiever companies, revised with the latest available quarterly earnings results, dividend announcements, and stock prices. "Mergent s Dividend Achievers is one of my favorite bedside thrillers. Here's a simple way to succeed in Wall Street: Buy the stocks on [Mergent s] list and stick with them as long as they stay on the list" —Peter Lynch Outperform the S&P 500(r) Mergent s Dividend Achievers, profiles approximately 300 U.S. companies that have increased their regular cash dividends annually for the past ten or more consecutive years. These are truly remarkable companies. The average total return of these Dividend Achiever companies has outperformed the S&P 500 for the last 10 years. "Where should investors start looking for high-quality dividend paying companies? Research from Mergent has an exclusive list of companies that have increased their dividends every year for the past 10 years." —Steve Liesman, CNBC, senior economics reporters on Squakbox Build a Winning Portfolio From our Dividend Achievers, you can put together an extraordinary, diversified portfolio. They include large capitalization, mid-cap, and small-cap companies. The companies represent more than 50 different industries, from consumer goods to real estate to utilities. For each Dividend Achiever Company, our handbook provides a full-page profile with in-depth investment criteria, including a stock performance chart, dividend record, business description, seven years of financial results and ratios, analysis of recent developments and more. With just a glance, you can see how the company has done in the past and decide whether you want to investigate further. Plus, there are special features, such as a dividend reinvestment plan indicator on each page, Dividend Achiever arrivals and departures, Dividend Achiever name changes, Dividend Achiever mergers and acquisitions, as well as web site and investor contact information on each page. "[Mergent s Dividend Achievers] is the valuable source for high-quality stocks that pay great dividends" — Len Kuker, Senior Vice President, Morgan Stanley Unique Rankings Companies are classified by industry. This edition includes numerous valuable rankings, such as 10-year average annual dividend growth rate, one, three, and five year total returns, top 20 return on equity and return on assets along with top 20 rankings by revenue, net income, total assets, long-term and short-term price scores, highest and lowest P/E ratios and more! A Great Investment Has Become Even Better And now, with new tax law changes slashing dividend taxes, investing in Dividend Achiever companies has never been better! Our Dividend Achievers will provide low-taxed income today and perhaps low-taxed capital gains tomorrow. Historically, dividend income has been taxed at your highest rate. Under the prior tax law, as much as 38.6% of dividend income could go to the IRS. The 2003 tax act changed the rules. Now, corporate dividends paid to individuals generally are taxed at ultra-low tax rates. Most investors will pay only 15% tax on dividend income. Investors in the lowest federal tax brackets will pay only 5% tax on dividends. This rate may apply to retirees whose income drops after they stop working. In 2008, those low-bracket taxpayers will owe no federal income tax on dividends they receive. What's more, if you need to sell your dividend-paying stocks, any long-term gains will qualify for those same bargain tax rates: 15%, 5%, or even 0% in 2008. How Does a Company Become a Dividend Achiever? Many thousands of companies pay dividends to shareholders. Fewer than 300 U.S. companies qualified as Dividend Achievers in 2003. In fact, only 2.5% of all the publicly-traded, dividend-paying U.S. companies qualify as Dividend Achievers! To make our final cut, only high-quality companies that have increased their regular dividends for 10 years in a row are chosen from an exclusive list. That s right...during the boom times of the late 1990s and the struggles of the early 21st century, our Dividend Achievers have steadily taken in more cash and paid higher dividends to investors. In fact, most of our Dividend Achievers have more than 20 years of higher dividends. Truly, the companies on our list have proven to be the top tier of U.S. industry. Order Your Copy Today For this edition of Mergent s Dividend Achievers, our analysts have updated the profiles on approximately 300 Dividend Achievers, which includes high-yielding companies that can produce higher returns, after tax, than municipal bonds. "I have been using and writing about Dividend Achievers handbook for more than 11 years, and I believe that it is one of the few true bargains in the arena of independent investment research." —Laureen Rudd, syndicated columnist, writing in the Sarasota Tribune A Century of Providing Trusted Information For over a century, Mergent has been the preferred source for global business and financial information. Providing comprehensive data to savvy investors — both novice and professional — Mergent offers the easy way to pick specific stocks that excel at paying dividends and piling up profits.




Pharmaphobia


Book Description

For millennia, human survival depended on our innate abilities to fight pathogens and repair injuries. Only recently has medical science prolonged longevity and improved quality of life. Physicians and academic researchers contribute to such progress, but the principal contributor is private industry that produces the tools – drugs and medical devices – enabling doctors to prevent and cure disease. Heavy regulation and biology’s complexity and unpredictability make medical innovation extremely difficult and expensive. Pharmaphobia describes how an ideological crusade, stretching over the last quarter century, has used distortion and flawed logic to make medical innovation even harder in a misguided pursuit of theoretical professional purity. Bureaucrats, reporters, politicians, and predatory lawyers have built careers attacking the medical products industry, belittling its critical contributions to medical innovation and accusing it of non-existent malfeasance: overselling product value, flaunting safety and corrupting physicians and academics who partner with it. The mania has imposed “conflict-of-interest” regulations limiting or banning valuable interactions between industry and physicians and researchers and diverting scarce resources from innovation to compliance. The victims are patients suffering from cancer, dementia, and other serious diseases for which new treatments are delayed, reduced, or eliminated as a result of these pointless regulations. With breathtaking detail, Thomas Stossel shows how this attack on doctors who work with industry limits medical innovation and inhibits the process of bringing new products into medical care.