Preventing better than Healing

The mystery--Why was "the man" dying? A long line of detectives, each pursuing the truth and seeking to uncover the culprit, each building on the work of his predecessor. One works on devising equipment that could magnify tiny hidden clues while another takes those clues and develops theories that can only be tested by putting his own life in jeopardy. Each one facing the ridicule of his peers while working in obscurity for years and sacrificing his fortune and his future to solve the mystery. In the background, yet other clues lie hidden in an old text, long overlooked. Where and how is the answer to be found?