Book Description

The book follows the history of the discovery of drugs that would be used in the treatment of mental illness, in particular schizophrenia by the late 1940s and early 1950s in Switzerland, France, Canada and the USA. The story goes back to 1883 when the chemical progenitors of chlorpromazine were synthesized for use in the blue dye industry in Heidelberg. Then it follows the the development of antihistamines after WW I for the treatment of shock in surgery. In 1950 it was proposed the this class of drugs might be useful in the treatment of mental illness. It is a fascinating history. The history was commissioned bya research group which ask whether the drugs could have been discovered earlier. Could they learn anything from the 90 year history of the development that would help design research projects that could be accelerated if an attempt were made to link the chance discoveries of research more efficiently. Here comes the spoiler: No. It makes the point the apparently that pure research is the basis on which the rest is built.