Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine into the Modern Age
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
At least since 1926, when Paul de Kruif's Microbe Hunters hit the best-seller lists, tales of medical discovery, detection, and invention have proved popular. Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine, written as a complement to the television miniseries of the same name, presented on the History Channel, is in this genre.
This book by Julie M. Fenster, a writer and historian, consists of 20 tales grouped loosely into five sections — "Understanding the Body," "Germ Theory," "Magic Bullets," "The Mind," and "Toward Better Surgery." The subjects included in these sections range chronologically from the work of Andreas Vesalius and William Harvey in the 16th and 17th centuries, respectively, to the cloning of Dolly the sheep in the 20th. Readers interested in the history of medicine may already be well acquainted with some of the subjects, such as the discovery of the x-ray, the development of surgical anesthesia (which was the subject of an earlier book by Fenster), and the finding by Ignaz Semmelweis that hand washing by doctors could prevent childbed fever. Readers may be less familiar, however, with other subjects, such as the tale of "Typhoid Mary," the history of the cardiac pacemaker, and the story surrounding the discovery and use of streptomycin to treat tuberculosis. Among the accounts that seem especially engaging are those of Werner Forssmann's pioneering cardiac catheterization, which he performed on himself, and of the development of the heart–lung machine.
In keeping with Fenster's background as a historian, the strengths of the book include its broad historical context. For example, the work of Vesalius is portrayed in relation to trends in European culture at the time, and the work of Antony van Leeuwenhoek is set against that of his contemporary and countryman — and fellow in experimentation with lenses and lighting — the artist Jan Vermeer. For a number of the developments Fenster recounts, she includes information on the financial support of the research, the presentation of findings in the popular media, and the ethical concerns raised by the work. The book includes some vivid storytelling, lively quotations, and nice turns of phrase, with a variety of word derivations and other interesting tidbits. Each of the tales is preceded by a photograph or an illustration that portrays the researcher or is otherwise related to the subject matter.
As would be expected in a work of this historical scope, Fenster draws largely on secondary sources, rather than on primary materials. The emphasis generally is on the story, rather than the science, which the author tends to present in limited depth. Like the title Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine into the Modern Age, the prose in the book sometimes tends toward the breathless — an inclination hardly new in the genre of popular science.
This book may interest clinicians who are drawn to history, professors of basic science who are seeking historical perspectives to include in their teaching, young people who are hoping to pursue careers in biomedicine, and members of the general public who are interested in the field of medicine. Even in this age of television and the Internet, such printed medical tales — generally more detailed and enduring than their counterparts in the newer media — have a worthy place.
Barbara Gastel, M.D., M.P.H.
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4111
b-gastel@tamu.edu(By Julie M. Fenster. 304 )
This book by Julie M. Fenster, a writer and historian, consists of 20 tales grouped loosely into five sections — "Understanding the Body," "Germ Theory," "Magic Bullets," "The Mind," and "Toward Better Surgery." The subjects included in these sections range chronologically from the work of Andreas Vesalius and William Harvey in the 16th and 17th centuries, respectively, to the cloning of Dolly the sheep in the 20th. Readers interested in the history of medicine may already be well acquainted with some of the subjects, such as the discovery of the x-ray, the development of surgical anesthesia (which was the subject of an earlier book by Fenster), and the finding by Ignaz Semmelweis that hand washing by doctors could prevent childbed fever. Readers may be less familiar, however, with other subjects, such as the tale of "Typhoid Mary," the history of the cardiac pacemaker, and the story surrounding the discovery and use of streptomycin to treat tuberculosis. Among the accounts that seem especially engaging are those of Werner Forssmann's pioneering cardiac catheterization, which he performed on himself, and of the development of the heart–lung machine.
In keeping with Fenster's background as a historian, the strengths of the book include its broad historical context. For example, the work of Vesalius is portrayed in relation to trends in European culture at the time, and the work of Antony van Leeuwenhoek is set against that of his contemporary and countryman — and fellow in experimentation with lenses and lighting — the artist Jan Vermeer. For a number of the developments Fenster recounts, she includes information on the financial support of the research, the presentation of findings in the popular media, and the ethical concerns raised by the work. The book includes some vivid storytelling, lively quotations, and nice turns of phrase, with a variety of word derivations and other interesting tidbits. Each of the tales is preceded by a photograph or an illustration that portrays the researcher or is otherwise related to the subject matter.
As would be expected in a work of this historical scope, Fenster draws largely on secondary sources, rather than on primary materials. The emphasis generally is on the story, rather than the science, which the author tends to present in limited depth. Like the title Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine into the Modern Age, the prose in the book sometimes tends toward the breathless — an inclination hardly new in the genre of popular science.
This book may interest clinicians who are drawn to history, professors of basic science who are seeking historical perspectives to include in their teaching, young people who are hoping to pursue careers in biomedicine, and members of the general public who are interested in the field of medicine. Even in this age of television and the Internet, such printed medical tales — generally more detailed and enduring than their counterparts in the newer media — have a worthy place.
Barbara Gastel, M.D., M.P.H.
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4111
b-gastel@tamu.edu(By Julie M. Fenster. 304 )