Innovation can be messy work, and sometimes outright disastrous. On this episode of Distillations we look at some of the 20th century’s most infamous scientific missteps. First: thalidomide. It was used as a sedative as well as a treatment for morning sickness, and caused thousands of birth defects before it was pulled from the market. Next up, we have an interview with Dr. Judith Walzer Leavitt, about Mary Mallon. Typhoid Mary, as history has dubbed her, was a symptomless carrier who infected over 50 people through her work as a chef. Finally, closing the show is the pipe dream of cold fusion and the discredited science that brought it into the public imagination.

Innovation can be messy work, and sometimes outright disastrous. On this episode of Distillations we look at some of the 20th century’s most infamous scientific missteps. First: thalidomide. It was used as a sedative as well as a treatment for morning sickness, and caused thousands of birth defects before it was pulled from the market. Next up, we have an interview with Dr. Judith Walzer Leavitt, about Mary Mallon. Typhoid Mary, as history has dubbed her, was a symptomless carrier who infected over 50 people through her work as a chef. Finally, closing the show is the pipe dream of cold fusion and the discredited science that brought it into the public imagination.