Frankenburg F.R. Vitamin Discoveries and Disasters: History, Science, and Controversies

Praeger, 2009. - 143 p.Each chapter focuses on a specific vitamin, describing the researchers, the research, and the historic and scientific contexts for its discovery, and chronicling the ongoing conflict between physicians who saw illness as caused by organisms and those who saw illness as a result of dietary deficiency. The book is illustrated with B&W historical photos and art. For those interested in components of nutrition as well as the history of the field, appendices describe some features of the vitamins in more detail. Simple glossary definitions are provided for many scientific and medical terms.Rats That Don't Grow and Have Sore Eyes: Vitamin A (Retinol), the Anti-Night Blindness Vitamin
Soldiers in Pain and Staggering Chickens: Vitamin B₁ (Thiamine), the Anti-Beriberi Vitamin
Dermatitis, Diarrhea, Dementia, and Death: Vitamin B₃ (Niacin), the Anti-Pellagra Vitamin
Deadly Anemia, Sludge, and the Nobel Prize for a Woman: Vitamins B₉ (Folate) and B₁₂ (Cobalamin), the Two Anti-Anemia Vitamins
Sailors, Scurvy, the Guinea Pig,and the Nobel Prize: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), the Anti-Scurvy Vitamin
Soft Bones, Lack of Light, and the "Sunshine Hormone": Vitamin D (Calcitriol), the Anti-Rickets Vitamin
Can You Have Too Much of a Good Thing? Toxicity from Vitamins
Conclusion: Victories, but Lingering Concerns
Appendicies
Notes