{"product_id":"i-told-you-so-matt-kaplan-9781250372277","title":"I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn energetic work of popular science about various scientists who have had to fight for their revolutionary ideas to be accepted--from Darwin to Pasteur to modern day Nobel Prize winners\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Problem With Being Right\u003c\/i\u003e is a critical history of the scientific community, past and present, as Matt Kaplan shows how scientific breakthroughs often occur in spite of, rather than because of, the scientific community. Alternating between the past and the present, the book is anchored by the story of Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who helped discover germ theory by realizing Puerperal fever--a devastating infection that most often strikes women who have recently given birth--was spread by doctors not washing their hands. Semmelweis was met with overwhelming hostility by those offended at the notion that doctors were at fault. Semmelweis as a prime example of the inefficiency of scientific progress--how hard the scientific community fights new ideas and new research, even when the facts are staring them in the face. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn snappy, accessible prose, Kaplan presents the cases of Galileo being threatened with torture, Charles Darwin facing social ostracism, and more recently, Katalin Karikó losing her job and her funding on the brink of discovering uses of mRNA - a discovery that would directly lead to the fast creation of a vaccine for Covid-19, and to a Nobel Prize for Karikó. With decades of first-hand reporting under his belt as the lead science reporter for the \u003ci\u003eEconomist\u003c\/i\u003e, Kaplan makes the argument that science is hampered by the community's resistance to younger scientists and new ideas--making it exceptionally difficult or outright impossible for critically important findings to gain recognition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEmploying persuasive examples spanning history, \u003ci\u003eThe Problem with Being Right \u003c\/i\u003emakes a compelling argument that the scientific community can work faster and better, if only it is open to change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Matt Kaplan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1250372275\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250372277\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e St. Martin's Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/24\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.12w x 1.00d","brand":"Matt Kaplan","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47135320703231,"sku":"9781250372277","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ca50a41d-3b30-474a-afd9-357289bff469.jpg?v=1755009799","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/i-told-you-so-matt-kaplan-9781250372277","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}