Lubbock physician, med school dean pens work of historical fiction

Infectious disease expert Steven L. Berk, M.D., has authored a new work of historical fiction: "In Search of the Animalcule".

Berk is the executive VP of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Dean of the School of Medicine. He is a board-certified expert in infectious disease and has written a multitude of peer-reviewed papers, as well as five medical textbooks. Berk is a member of the American Osler Society. He is the author of "Anatomy of a Kidnapping: A Doctor’s Story", which was awarded the Silver Medal in the Foreword Indies Award (True Crime category).

Berk follows the familiar writer’s advice to “write what one knows” in crafting his debut novel, "In Search of the Animalcule". A work of historical fiction about the early days of infectious disease, "In Search of the Animalcule" will rekindle attention to the history of the hand-washing doctrine, the exhilaration of discovery, and the continuing martyrdom of physicians fighting deadly animalcules(germs), a battle which continues in the COVID era, according to a news release announcing the book.

About the book: When he is born in 1847 Vienna, protagonist Jacob Pfleger shares just two days with his mother, a female obstetrician who, like thousands of other women around the world, dies of the mysterious childbed fever. Because his birth father wants nothing to do with him, Jacob is placed in an orphanage. As Jacob matures into a precocious 12-year-old, he is told about the legacy of his mother, the first female physician in Vienna, by her colleague, Ignaz Semmelweis.

When he discovers that his father is a winemaker in Lille, France, Jacob is determined to find him and embarks on a quest to locate him. When he arrives in France, Jacob is introduced to Louis Pasteur who is working with his father to determine why the wines of France are spoiling. As he is led on an intense scientific journey, Jacob eventually encounters and works with Joseph Lister and Robert Koch, participating in the great discoveries of the era that uncover the animalcules, the bacteria, that have caused global disease and death. Later Jacob studies to become a doctor under the mentorship of Sir William Osler at Johns Hopkins.

"A remarkable story that captures the real lives and work of the greatest scientists of the time, 'In Search of the Animalcule' is a brilliantly rendered tale. Berk delivers a confident, captivating story of discovery that unfolds against the backdrop of an unprecedented era in medical history. Meticulously researched, brimming with historical detail, and resplendent with a cast of compelling characters who changed the world, 'In Search of the Animalcule' is an extraordinary story extraordinarily well told," the release states.

"In Search of the Animalcule" (iUniverse) is now available wherever books are sold in hardcover (6x9, 228 pp., ISBN: 9781663248015, $23.99) trade paper (6x9, 228 pp., ISBN : 9781663248008, $13.99) and eBook (ISBN : 9781663247995, $3.99) editions. Both of Berk's books are available online at amazon.com .

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock physician, med school dean pens work of historical fiction