This book has done a lot to redress the imbalance in the story of the development of penicillin. Howard Florey, An energetic young Australian turns up in Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, and finds himself taking the strategic option to follow a lead from a paper by Alexander Fleming. Fleming had noticed that bacteria were turned in their tracks by a mould, but was not able to harness it or grow sufficient material to conduct any further tests - and abandoned the idea. Through much hard work and lots of lobbying from a team under Florey's direction, penicillin made it as the common medical treatment for infections.
The story is well told by Bickel. Necessarily he had to expose Florey as a reluctant player not keen on self-promotion or plaudits. And that Fleming willingly and probably accidentally filled the role such that he is usually given much, if not all, of the credit for penicillin. Watch out for the small story at the end where Florey is asked to financially contribute to a tribute to Fleming. ( )