Researching Albert Schatz

Born to a family of farmers, Schatz was inspired to study soil science so that it would be useful for him to take up his family occupation. Topping his class in 1942, he immediately worked under Selman Waksman, then head of the Department of Soil Microbiology, but was drafted to the US Army to serve in the World War II. After a back injury led to his discharge from the army, he rejoined Waksman in 1943 as a PhD student. Working in isolation from others for his use of tuberculosis bacterium (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) he discovered a new antibiotic which he named "streptomycin" that was proven safe and effective against the tuberculosis bacterium and Gram-negative bacteria. He also contributed to the discovery another antibiotic albomycin in 1947.

The discovery of streptomycin led to controversial issues on the royalties of commercial production and Nobel Prize. Unbeknown to Schatz, Waksman had claimed the financial benefits only for himself and the Rutgers Research and Endowment Foundation. A lawsuit granted Schatz 3% of the royalties and a legal recognition as the co-discover. Then the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given solely to Waksman explicitly "for his discovery of streptomycin," which The Lancet remarked as "a considerable mistake by failing to recognise Schatz's contribution." As an act of goodwill, Schatz was honoured with the Rutgers University Medal in 1994.

His 1907 work L'individualisme économique et social (Individualism - Economic and Social) first outlines a basis for the classical liberal doctrine, in France to be traced back to the Physiocrats. Then he talks about the diverse aspect of individualism in the 19th century: from Charles Dunoyer to Mill, and to Bastiat. He also talks about individualism in relation to politics (liberal democracy), its relationship to religion, and finally to Spencer's sociology, and anarchism.