9781797139333
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Empire of the Scalpel audiobook

  • By: Ira Rutkow
  • Narrator: Gibson Frazier
  • Category: History, Medical
  • Length: 15 hours 22 minutes
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
  • Publish date: January 01, 2022
  • Language: English
  • (307 ratings)
(307 ratings)
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Empire of the Scalpel Audiobook Summary

From an eminent surgeon and historian comes the “by turns fascinating and ghastly” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice) story of surgery’s development–from the Stone Age to the present day–blending meticulous medical research with vivid storytelling.

There are not many life events that can be as simultaneously frightening and hopeful as a surgical operation. In America, tens-of-millions of major surgical procedures are performed annually, yet few of us consider the magnitude of these figures because we have such inherent confidence in surgeons. And, despite passionate debates about health care and the media’s endless fascination with surgery, most of us have no idea how the first surgeons came to be because the story of surgery has never been fully told. Now, Empire of the Scalpel elegantly reveals surgery’s fascinating evolution from its early roots in ancient Egypt to its refinement in Europe and rise to scientific dominance in the United States.

From the 16th-century saga of Andreas Vesalius and his crusade to accurately describe human anatomy while appeasing the conservative clergy who clamored for his burning at the stake, to the hard-to-believe story of late-19th century surgeons’ apathy to Joseph Lister’s innovation of antisepsis and how this indifference led to thousands of unnecessary surgical deaths, Empire of the Scalpel is both a global history and a uniquely American tale. You’ll discover how in the 20th century the US achieved surgical leadership, heralded by Harvard’s Joseph Murray and his Nobel Prize-winning, seemingly impossible feat of transplanting a kidney, which ushered in a new era of transplants that continues to make procedures once thought insurmountable into achievable successes.

Today, the list of possible operations is almost infinite–from knee and hip replacement to heart bypass and transplants to fat reduction and rhinoplasty–and “Rutkow has a raconteur’s touch” (San Francisco Chronicle) as he draws on his five-decade career to show us how we got here. Comprehensive, authoritative, and captivating, Empire of the Scalpel is “a fascinating, well-rendered story of how the once-impossible became a daily reality” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

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Empire of the Scalpel Audiobook Narrator

Gibson Frazier is the narrator of Empire of the Scalpel audiobook that was written by Ira Rutkow

About the Author(s) of Empire of the Scalpel

Ira Rutkow is the author of Empire of the Scalpel

More From the Same

Empire of the Scalpel Full Details

Narrator Gibson Frazier
Length 15 hours 22 minutes
Author Ira Rutkow
Category
Publisher Simon & Schuster Audio
Release date April 25, 2024
ISBN 9781797139333

Subjects

The publisher of the Empire of the Scalpel is Simon & Schuster Audio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is History, Medical

Additional info

The publisher of the Empire of the Scalpel is Simon & Schuster Audio. The imprint is Simon & Schuster Audio. It is supplied by Simon & Schuster Audio. The ISBN-13 is 9781797139333.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

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