Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery
by Wendy Moore
This is the biography of titular Knife Man: John Hunter, a poor Scots farmboy who grew up in Georgian England times when medicine was purging, bloodletting, or cupping. Way before Morton made anesthesia or Lister made cleanliness popular, John Hunter set about revolutionizing surgery through his intense focus on anatomy and discovering in practical (and horrific) experiments how the body actually worked instead of relying on age-old traditional ideas about bodily humors.
The book begins with John Hunters childhood and goes on until he establishes his famous Hunterian museum of anatomy (as he made thousands of preserved bones, organs and tissues) and death from (probable) angina.
Along the way, we are treated to a view of an easily irritated, socially awkward, extremely obsessed man. The author speculates at one point that he might have been dyslexic because of his eternal emphasis on carving up dead bodies over hitting the books. I also as a reader might speculate he had a touch of some kind of neuro-atypical makeup as he truly seemed obsessed.
The story sometimes gets bogged down in the same kinds of information being relayed (he was brash, he argued, he was brilliant, his rivals hated his challenging medical tradition, his pupils loved him) but each of the main incidents described in the chapters are pretty fascinating tales of both sordid/criminal behaviors such as his probable links to body-snatchers, stealing dead bodies from their coffins, performing experiments on live victims and his staunch adherence to science as a practical, clinical matter. There's also politics, lots and lots of politics. Quite interesting to read how people became surgeons and the differences between physicians and surgeons of that time.
Worthwhile reading for those interested in Western medicine developmental history.
by Wendy Moore
This is the biography of titular Knife Man: John Hunter, a poor Scots farmboy who grew up in Georgian England times when medicine was purging, bloodletting, or cupping. Way before Morton made anesthesia or Lister made cleanliness popular, John Hunter set about revolutionizing surgery through his intense focus on anatomy and discovering in practical (and horrific) experiments how the body actually worked instead of relying on age-old traditional ideas about bodily humors.
The book begins with John Hunters childhood and goes on until he establishes his famous Hunterian museum of anatomy (as he made thousands of preserved bones, organs and tissues) and death from (probable) angina.
Along the way, we are treated to a view of an easily irritated, socially awkward, extremely obsessed man. The author speculates at one point that he might have been dyslexic because of his eternal emphasis on carving up dead bodies over hitting the books. I also as a reader might speculate he had a touch of some kind of neuro-atypical makeup as he truly seemed obsessed.
The story sometimes gets bogged down in the same kinds of information being relayed (he was brash, he argued, he was brilliant, his rivals hated his challenging medical tradition, his pupils loved him) but each of the main incidents described in the chapters are pretty fascinating tales of both sordid/criminal behaviors such as his probable links to body-snatchers, stealing dead bodies from their coffins, performing experiments on live victims and his staunch adherence to science as a practical, clinical matter. There's also politics, lots and lots of politics. Quite interesting to read how people became surgeons and the differences between physicians and surgeons of that time.
Worthwhile reading for those interested in Western medicine developmental history.
dark
informative
Excellent writing on a beyond fascinating subject.
As a 21st century reader, I would have loved even a single sentence here and there divulging the ultimate fate of different properties and collections heavily featured in the book, but ultimately that's the only semblance of criticism I have for this substantial historical biography by Wendy Moore. It's a heavy, long read, but for those interested in the history of medical and surgical sciences especially, it's absolutely stunning.
As a 21st century reader, I would have loved even a single sentence here and there divulging the ultimate fate of different properties and collections heavily featured in the book, but ultimately that's the only semblance of criticism I have for this substantial historical biography by Wendy Moore. It's a heavy, long read, but for those interested in the history of medical and surgical sciences especially, it's absolutely stunning.
Great portrait of a trailblazer. Scotsman John Hunter was an 18th century pioneer in applying scientific reason to surgery and medicine.
He collected medical oddities, bones, indulged in animal experiments and body-snatching. His curiosity and inquisitiveness are inspiring.
He collected medical oddities, bones, indulged in animal experiments and body-snatching. His curiosity and inquisitiveness are inspiring.
I was fascinated by this well-written and sometimes surprising biography. I also enjoyed the chronology comparing national and international events to events in John Hunter's life.
informative
slow-paced
This nonfiction is written how everyone thinks nonfiction is written… and I mean that as an insult. This was book was so boring! like there were moments and chapters that were good but over all the information was good but the delivery was boring. I’m glad I learned more about a very important figure in anatomy but this is a book for somebody’s dad not for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma
dark
informative
reflective
Quick, easy read about an interesting guy, but it suffered for not having pictures, and my attention -- and the author's, it seemed -- wandered when Hunter turned from anatomist and surgeon to naturalist.
medium-paced
medium-paced