Otto Meyerhof: The Difficult Life of a Nobel Prize Winner

More than 100 years ago, in 1922, Otto Meyerhof received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on muscle metabolism. Meyerhof lived in a time of groundbreaking scientific findings, but also, as a Jewish scientist, during the time of National Socialism in Germany. Despite his Nobel Prize, Meyerhof was only awarded an assistant position at his Kiel Institute at that time. Meyerhof managed to flee with his family to the USA in 1938, where he lived until his death in 1951. This book explores the question of how all this could have happened in such an excellent intellectual milieu. The collection brings together a biography of Otto Meyerhof; a summary of his research; and articles by well-renowned authors covering several aspects of anti-Semitism.

It will be of interest to social, medical and scientific historians, as well as researchers on anti-Semitism. The work and life of this brilliant scientist has not been well-documented, and this volume makes an important addition to the literature.