Review of Winning the War on Cancer
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Deborah Campion
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Review of Winning the War on Cancer
[Following is a volunteer review of "Winning the War on Cancer" by Sylvie Beljanski.]
What happened in the book Winning the War on Cancer? It is not a unique story in our culture when the dedicated scientist goes up against the academic establishment and is treated badly by that establishment. This man’s war literally killed him. That is not a spoiler. All too often that is the end when talented intellect goes up against institutionalized power. It can tempt one to believe in conspiracy theories. In this story, we have victories and defeats, fate and coincidence, and hard work, and we see a family that supports and depends on each other entwined throughout. The timeline shifts between the author’s childhood when she felt lonely because both parents were dedicated to their research on DNA, RNA, and botanical medicines, her discovery of the important work that they were doing, and her continuation of her father’s war with the scientific, academic, and pharmaceutical industrial complex that would accept no disagreement with orthodoxy.
There is a particular type of statistical carelessness that annoys me. This is when facts are reported in different models. For example, sometimes the cancer death rates are reported in absolute numbers such as deaths per year, and other times by portions of the population or a percentage of a demographic. This information is much more digestible when presented graphically. There were a few pictures in the book of the scientists involved and their families as this is history, but no graphs, which would have made some of the technical information much clearer. This is the only thing I found that could have been improved. The book was amazingly well edited, with zero typos or mistakes.
Sylvie Beljanski grows up and the sad little girl becomes a lawyer before she realizes the importance of the work that her parents are doing. On a weekly check-in call to the lab, there is no answer. There is always somebody at the lab. She tries several times, then calls home to talk to her mother. A policeman answers. Sylvie goes into “lawyer mode” and gets two minutes to talk to her mom, who does not understand what happened that very morning. This is the beginning of the best feature of this story, her transformation from a spoiled child who resents her parents’ mission to an adult woman who learns how important this work is and devotes her life to fighting to clear her father’s reputation and making sure his scientific discoveries are available to benefit the world’s people.
It is also the start of the tragic part of the story where her parents and her father’s work, the equipment and supplies, all of his colleagues and employees were treated criminally by the French judicial system, the actual medicines and all the files, peer-reviewed papers, and technical progress reports were removed and destroyed. To return to the positive track, luckily there was a good lawyer in the family.
I give this book five out of five stars rating because it was an inspirational story, well written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sylvie Beljanski stepped way out of her comfort zone to learn about the cancer industry and the innovative research her father had done, and she dedicated herself to educating the medical community all over the world.
People who are interested in biographies of scientists will like this book. People who think the medical establishment has too much control over new ideas and research, and what gets published, and what doesn’t get into medical school curricula will like it.
******
Winning the War on Cancer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
What happened in the book Winning the War on Cancer? It is not a unique story in our culture when the dedicated scientist goes up against the academic establishment and is treated badly by that establishment. This man’s war literally killed him. That is not a spoiler. All too often that is the end when talented intellect goes up against institutionalized power. It can tempt one to believe in conspiracy theories. In this story, we have victories and defeats, fate and coincidence, and hard work, and we see a family that supports and depends on each other entwined throughout. The timeline shifts between the author’s childhood when she felt lonely because both parents were dedicated to their research on DNA, RNA, and botanical medicines, her discovery of the important work that they were doing, and her continuation of her father’s war with the scientific, academic, and pharmaceutical industrial complex that would accept no disagreement with orthodoxy.
There is a particular type of statistical carelessness that annoys me. This is when facts are reported in different models. For example, sometimes the cancer death rates are reported in absolute numbers such as deaths per year, and other times by portions of the population or a percentage of a demographic. This information is much more digestible when presented graphically. There were a few pictures in the book of the scientists involved and their families as this is history, but no graphs, which would have made some of the technical information much clearer. This is the only thing I found that could have been improved. The book was amazingly well edited, with zero typos or mistakes.
Sylvie Beljanski grows up and the sad little girl becomes a lawyer before she realizes the importance of the work that her parents are doing. On a weekly check-in call to the lab, there is no answer. There is always somebody at the lab. She tries several times, then calls home to talk to her mother. A policeman answers. Sylvie goes into “lawyer mode” and gets two minutes to talk to her mom, who does not understand what happened that very morning. This is the beginning of the best feature of this story, her transformation from a spoiled child who resents her parents’ mission to an adult woman who learns how important this work is and devotes her life to fighting to clear her father’s reputation and making sure his scientific discoveries are available to benefit the world’s people.
It is also the start of the tragic part of the story where her parents and her father’s work, the equipment and supplies, all of his colleagues and employees were treated criminally by the French judicial system, the actual medicines and all the files, peer-reviewed papers, and technical progress reports were removed and destroyed. To return to the positive track, luckily there was a good lawyer in the family.
I give this book five out of five stars rating because it was an inspirational story, well written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sylvie Beljanski stepped way out of her comfort zone to learn about the cancer industry and the innovative research her father had done, and she dedicated herself to educating the medical community all over the world.
People who are interested in biographies of scientists will like this book. People who think the medical establishment has too much control over new ideas and research, and what gets published, and what doesn’t get into medical school curricula will like it.
******
Winning the War on Cancer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Bone Necklace by Julia Sullivan
