The Excellent Powder: DDT's Political and Scientific History

I paid $75 for this book. It is a used paperback, of 432 pages that clearly has "$25.00 U.S." printed on the back. It was listed on two other websites for $288.00. You read that right. And now, I can't find it for sale anywhere. For a book that reveals such relevant, research-grounded information, so graciously and tactfully, I find this to be mind boggling. I buy a lot of books, but never have I seen such a prohibitively expensive price tag on a science book. Are sellers trying to keep the public from reading this information? This is an excellent book on a hotly debated topic. If you can get your hands on a copy, you should read it. It's not a sensationalist work. It is well cited and well written. This book is the other side of the very one-sided story on DDT.

I just finished reading this book. It is the most thorough, well researched, and documented book on the subject of DDT. It is sad that the eugenics crowd like Paul Ehrlich and pseudo scientists like Rachel Carson chose to make DDT their demon to be destroyed, and ignored all the evidence that pointed to DDT being the safest, cheapest, and most effective tool against Malaria. As a result, billions of people became sick from Malaria and many millions died. The environmentalist crowd doesn't want to be confused with facts. Their minds are already made up. The one negative reviewer of this book clearly has not read it, as he argues that the DDT industry profits greatly from its use when in fact the chemical industry would be fine with this product being banned because it doesn't make anybody any money, and the much more expensive substitutes for DDT don't work as well or last as long. If you're going to write a negative review, at least have the decency to read it first. But again, they're not interested in facts, so why would they waste their time in learning something.

I happen to know Richard Tren and can say without reservation he is a man of integrity. He has been fighting the good fight against malaria for many years and clearly recognizes the need for this life saving product. Every year new "studies" are touted to support claims that DDT should have been banned, such as the Pine River study and the British Journal of Urology article that claimed DDT caused urogentital birth defects in children. These and so many of the issues surrounding green myths regarding DDT are dealt with here. This is a "must read" for those who care about this subject.

Would recommend this book to anyone curious about the history of DDT. Almost everything you "know" about this powder is wrong. The powder (originally discovered accidentally) was intended to be used INSIDE dwellings, where it works to mainly REPEL, not kill malaria bearing mosquitos. A respected but uninformed researcher once suggested that the powder should be applied outdoors to kill insects, leading to great harm and a false view of this massively beneficial substance. If available today, and used properly, millions of humans could be spared from the horrible effects of malaria. Well researched and documented---a must read.

Been following this issue for 20+ years. I have read a lot of scientific papers regarding DDT and they've pretty much all been a sham, This is a very well referenced book regarding the scientific literature about DDT. And it does not just say stuff without backing it up. The papers for and against are well referenced.

Wow. Everything you wanted to know about why malaria is still with us. I felt angry and ashamed of the various self-seekers and politicians.Addresses the impact on wildlife, both good and bad.Yes, tolerance of malaria is optional. And we can stop it without whiz-bang laser solutions.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how DDT actually affects mosquitos, and how Rachel Carson's nonsensical and unscientific Silent Spring got so many things wrong. The banning of DDT is one of the greatest world tragedies of the 20th century. Thankfully, the ban is being lifted, albeit rather slowly.

Everyone should read this book. Your life may depend on it. Hats off to the HERO's who wrote this book.

This was a very well-researched and well-argued book which I had a hard time putting down. The parallels between the DDT movement and today's climate change movement are astounding.