The History of Antibiotics

The timeline of antibiotic discovery can be divided into three ages: the dawn, the golden age, and the dark age. The dawn of antibiotic discovery involved the discovery of salvarsan, prontosil, and penicillin. The golden age followed in the 1960s during which all families of antibiotics in clinical use today were discovered. During the current dark age, very few antibiotics have been discovered, as the cost per new antibiotic developed has exponentially increased. This chapter will discuss all ages of antibiotic discovery, with an emphasis on the dark age and Eroom’s law.