Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine into the Modern Age [Hardcover]

Julie M. Fenster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2003

Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine brings to life stories of the pioneering geniuses, eccentrics, and freethinkers who moved beyond the conventions of their day at great personal risk—and often with tragic results—to push forward the boundaries of modern medicine. From Werner Forssmann, who was so confident in his theory that doctors could insert a catheter into humans’ hearts for diagnostic purposes that he inserted one into his own heart, while watching on a live X ray (and was basically thrown out of the profession, only to be awarded the Nobel Prize just before his death many years later), to Anton Von Leewenhoek, a draper and part-time janitor who discovered the existence of protozoa, bacteria, sperm, and blood cells; from Wilhelm Roentgen, who developed the X-ray machine in his basement with a single cathode ray and some cardboard, to Jean-Baptiste Denis who gave the first-known blood transfusion (with sheep’s blood) and was later charged with murder (on manufactured evidence), Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine is populated with the heretics and visionaries who forever changed medical science. This fully illustrated publication is the companion volume to The History Channel mini-series of the same name.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fenster, whose previous book, Ether Day, told the story of the discovery of anesthesia, here writes engagingly about the persecuted pioneers behind some of medicine's greatest achievements. Some of the people she chronicles truly did risk their lives (or those of others) with their innovations; some risked merely their reputations, fortunes or careers. All had to fight to be understood, Fenster says, in most cases because their experiments on themselves forced " the innately threatening word 'I' smack in the face of a community of medical research constructed on that more precarious word, 'we.'" Ignaz Semmelweis was shut out of maternity wards for insisting that doctors wash their hands to prevent passing deadly infections to patients. Lady Montagu used a popular Turkish method to inoculate her son with smallpox long before vaccination had even entered the minds of medical researchers in England. Paul Ehrlich was first applauded for introducing a cure to syphilis, then vilified by anti-Semites who thought he was making too much money off his discovery. These stories seem chosen to illuminate the fact that even systems like science, which is supposed to be open to new ideas, can be dangerously intractable. Other tales reveal an even darker side of medicine-many of the people who discovered crucial facts about anatomy and physiology were "flagrant vivisectionists." Fenster offers a peek into the often disturbing nexus between medicine and ego, and she isn't afraid to reveal the ambiguous successes of men like the "X-ray martyrs" whose self-experimentation led to slow, painful deaths. This book is a companion to the History Channel miniseries of the same name.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The New England Journal of Medicine

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.
Copyright © 2004 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; 1st Carroll & Graf Ed edition (July 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712368
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712366
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,398,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Medical Pioneers who risked everything to save lives., September 16, 2003

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M. Franta (Walnut, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine into the Modern Age (Hardcover)

Washing one's hands was a revolutionary idea back in sick houses in the 1840's...was it really too much trouble to keep one's hands spiffed up while delivering babies? This book explores many medical marvels taken for granted; such as the discovery of the x-ray, and how kidney transplantation evolved. It is told in a way that facinates. Who would be brave enough to innoculate one's own child against smallpox way back when such a thought could result in inprisonment? Yet, these brilliant medical amatuers dared to venture into areas that placed them in a most unflattering light. These smart people were true mavericks; a type of individual who was smart enough to see past medical tradition and look into logical realities in medicine. They were crazy and tenacious enough to hold onto these ideas while everyone else took their sweet time catching up to their revolutionary ideas. Author, Julie Fenster did alot of research into germ theory and the art of medicine. Much thinking is inspired while one contemplates -- where did our modern surgeries come from? This book explores the major discoveries of our modern, western medicine and it also dares to implore those blessed with scientific minds to keep pushing ahead with ideas that may be with held within logical day dreams. I enjoyed the science behind this book because it was written with alot of heart. I think any enterprenour would enjoy this book; all 281 pages of it. Oh yes, and a small word about animal experimentation -- the necesariness of it versus the evils of it are explained as well. Plan on taking your time reading this; contemplation of one's medical practice may be an interesting side effect; (not an adverse reaction, but a positive force indeed.) Good reading!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, October 17, 2005

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Tenken's Smile "Seta Soujiro" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine into the Modern Age (Hardcover)

Risk-takers and rebels, they frequently challenged conventional wisdom and stirred firestorms of controversy. Some were ridiculed, even reviled, in their own time. Yet these same people made some of history's greatest medical discoveries, changed the path of medicine, and opened up the prospect for further lifesaving advances.

A unique journey through some of the greatest moments in the history of medicine, MAVERICKS, MIRACLES & MEDICINE tells the stories of how these remarkable individuals made their discoveries often while facing daunting challenges.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast medical history read..., August 9, 2010

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K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine into the Modern Age (Hardcover)

I really went through this book fast. It took me maybe three days to get through and would have taken less if I could have taken the whole day to read the book. I had read some books before on some of the people mentioned in this book, but even so, this book and history gave new insights into the men (and women) discussed who added to our knowledge of medicine. Most of the men involved took ideas or theories, and ran with them even when they were vastly unpopular. Many times they paid for their ideas by being cast out of the medical community...Semelweis who promoted handwashing in the mid-1800's was laughed out of Vienna, Austria. Other men put their own lives at risk by trying new techniques on themselves (the thought of threading anything through your veins to take a picture of your heart is pretty hairy)...

This book was very much along the lines of the great programs you see on the History Channel which I consider a high compliment because I love that channel. I will probably take a close look at any other books recommended to me that are from this resource if they are as well written as this book was.