- 432 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
"More than a litany of medical advances—it's the story of the gritty, bloody and deadly experiences that underlie scientific progress." —
Washington Post
An eye-opening and heroic story of pioneering heart surgeons, structured around eleven operations.
For thousands of years the human heart remained the deepest of mysteries; both home to the soul and an organ too complex to touch, let alone operate on.
Then, in the late nineteenth century, medics began going where no one had dared go before. The following decades saw the mysteries of the heart exposed, thanks to pioneering surgeons, brave patients and even sacrificial dogs.
In eleven landmark operations, Thomas Morris tells us stories of triumph, reckless bravery, swaggering arrogance, jealousy and rivalry, and incredible ingenuity: the trail-blazing 'blue baby' procedure that transformed wheezing infants into pink, healthy children; the first human heart transplant, which made headline news around the globe. And yet the heart still feels sacred: just before the operation to fit one of the first artificial hearts, the patient's wife asked the surgeon if he would still be able to love her.
The Matter of the Heart gives us a view over the surgeon's shoulder, showing us the heart's inner workings and failings. It describes both a human story and a history of risk-taking that has ultimately saved millions of lives.
"A thoroughly engaging history." — The Wall Street Journal
"Morris's expert guided tour of cardiac surgery and its quirky, brilliant innovators covers a dazzling and dizzying array of procedures and hints at tantalizing prospects for future surprises." — Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A well-developed narrative with no end of heroes.'" — Kirkus Reviews
"Gripping." —John Crace, The Guardian
An eye-opening and heroic story of pioneering heart surgeons, structured around eleven operations.
For thousands of years the human heart remained the deepest of mysteries; both home to the soul and an organ too complex to touch, let alone operate on.
Then, in the late nineteenth century, medics began going where no one had dared go before. The following decades saw the mysteries of the heart exposed, thanks to pioneering surgeons, brave patients and even sacrificial dogs.
In eleven landmark operations, Thomas Morris tells us stories of triumph, reckless bravery, swaggering arrogance, jealousy and rivalry, and incredible ingenuity: the trail-blazing 'blue baby' procedure that transformed wheezing infants into pink, healthy children; the first human heart transplant, which made headline news around the globe. And yet the heart still feels sacred: just before the operation to fit one of the first artificial hearts, the patient's wife asked the surgeon if he would still be able to love her.
The Matter of the Heart gives us a view over the surgeon's shoulder, showing us the heart's inner workings and failings. It describes both a human story and a history of risk-taking that has ultimately saved millions of lives.
"A thoroughly engaging history." — The Wall Street Journal
"Morris's expert guided tour of cardiac surgery and its quirky, brilliant innovators covers a dazzling and dizzying array of procedures and hints at tantalizing prospects for future surprises." — Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A well-developed narrative with no end of heroes.'" — Kirkus Reviews
"Gripping." —John Crace, The Guardian
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access The Matter of the Heart by Thomas Morris in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Medicine & Social History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Diagrams
- Introduction
- 1 Bullet to the Heart
- 2 Blue Babies
- 3 ‘A Sensible Hissing’
- 4 Ice Baths and Monkey Lungs
- 5 Rubber Balls and Pig Valves
- 6 Metronomes and Nuclear Reactors
- 7 ‘Strong and Peculiar Symptoms’
- 8 One Life, Two Hearts
- 9 Clinical Trial by Media
- 10 Fantastic Voyage
- 11 I, Robot (Surgeon)
- Acknowledgements
- List of Illustrations
- Further Reading
- Notes
- Index
- Photo Insert
- About the Author
- Newsletter Sign-up
- Contents
- Copyright