Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong

by Paul A. Offit

ALL OF THESE STORIES ARE UNITED by a myth that dates back to 700 B.C.—the myth of unintended consequences. Zeus, angry that Prometheus had stolen fire from the gods, was intent on punishing mankind. So he gave a marvelous jeweled box to Pandora—its contents, a secret. When Pandora opened the box, which she had been warned not to do, a stream of ghostly creatures representing disease, poverty, misery, sadness, death, and all manner of evil escaped. Pandora closed the box, but too late. Only hope remained. Science can be Pandora’s beautiful box. And our curiosity about what science can offer has allowed us, in some cases, to unleash evils that have caused much suffering and death. In one case, it probably sowed the seeds of our eventual destruction. Because these stories start at the beginning of recorded history and extend to the present day, the lesson of Pandora’s box remains unlearned.