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“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson

Some readers of this blog are familiar with my career at 3M although with varying degrees of understanding, so I’ll give a little bit of background info. From the time that I joined 3M in 1989 until I retired in 2023, I worked in the field of respiratory protection – protecting peoples’ lungs from airborne hazards. Respiratory hazards include gases and vapors and airborne particles and are most commonly found in industrial workplaces. I have a good background in the science of protecting against gases and vapors, but my real area of expertise is in the study of airborne particles (AKA aerosol science).

Although most of our customers were industrial workers doing jobs such as welding, spray-painting, or cutting and grinding metal or stone, we also made respirators for healthcare workers. Throughout my career there were prolonged episodes during which airborne hazards in healthcare settings became our top priority. There was drug-resistant TB in the late 1980s and early 90s, the SARS outbreak of 2003, the H1N1 (Swine Flu) outbreak in 2009, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) starting in 2012, and, of course COVID-19.

In addition, it’s fair to say that I am a science nerd. I especially enjoy learning about the history of science – how did we come to know that which we know and understand today? What was the tortuous path, the false leads and incorrect interpretations that had to be overcome before a true understanding of a topic could be deduced? One way I indulge this interest is by listening to the program RadioLab on Saturdays.

Today’s episode of RadioLab is especially good.  It starts with Hippocrates and proceeds up to the present day. It helped me understand why, in the very early days of COVID, Dr. Anthony Fauci, when trying to convince people that respirators should be reserved for healthcare workers, said that respirators wouldn’t be of any help to the general public.  I remember groaning when I heard him say that.  At the time, I thought that he had misspoken – he didn’t really mean to say that. But after listening to today’s story, it would appear that Dr. Fauci (and many, many other healthcare professionals at the time) was relying on the accepted wisdom that he had learned in medical school. But that’s what the progress of science is all about – the accepted wisdom has to be overcome before a new interpretation can become established. What he said was not a mistake, it was his opinion based on his best understanding of the science at the time. He was not deliberately trying to deceive or mislead. The best thing about science is that theories are constantly being tested. When the accepted wisdom no longer fits the data, a new theory is developed that does. That’s progress.

Check out today’s episode for free:

https://radiolab.org/podcast/revenge-of-the-miasma

(Book link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724793/air-borne-by-carl-zimmer/)

As a bonus, there’s also the story of Henrietta Lacks on the same website.  The podcast is good, but I highly recommend the book.  On the one hand, her contribution to medical science has had huge ramifications in the world of medicine over the last 70 years. At the same time, it’s another chapter in the long, miserable history of African Americans being mistreated at the hands of the American medical system.

https://radiolab.org/podcast/the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks

(Book link: https://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/about-the-book/)

[I promise more goat pictures very soon!]