Rivalry In Science

Jovana Grbić’s review of Morton Meyers’ book “Prize Fight: The Race and the Rivalry to be the First in Science” includes the statement, “Whether through luck, assiduousness, or a combination of both, Schatz quickly screened for and discovered a soil antibiotic that would become the basis for the TB drug streptomycin” (C&EN, Sept. 17, page 33). This seems to intimate that he was just routinely screening soil samples, and thus he was not entitled to any credit for the discovery. How about if he found the culture by swabbing the gullet of a chicken? Would he then be entitled to some credit?

Martin Steinman
Livingston, N.J.