Great Feuds in Medicine - Hardcover

Hellman, Hal; Hellman, Harold

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471347574 ISBN 13: 9780471347576

Publisher: Wiley, 2001

Synopsis

"An exciting, well-researched work, which should appeal to anyone with an interest in the nature and progress of the human race."
—American Scientist

The cataclysmic clash of medical ideas and personalities comes to colorful life
In this follow-up to the critically acclaimed Great Feuds in Science (Wiley: 0-471-16980-3), Hal Hellman tells the stories of the ten most heated and important disputes of medical science. Featuring a mix of famous and lesser-known stories, Great Feuds in Medicine includes the fascinating accounts of William Harvey's battle with the medical establishment over his discovery of the circulation of blood; Louis Pasteur's fight over his theory of germs; and the nasty dispute between American Robert Gallo and French researcher Luc Montagnier over who discovered the HIV virus. An informative and insightful look at how such medical controversies are not only typical, but often necessary to the progress of the science.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

The history of medicine is fraught with controversy. From Sigmund Freud to Louis Pasteur, countless researchers, physicians, and scientists have found themselves–and their work–at the center of ruthless disputes that have destroyed careers and lives. In this captivating follow-up to his acclaimed Great Feuds in Science, Hal Hellman tells the entertaining stories of the most heated and important of these disputes.

Highlighting both famous and lesser-known clashes, Hellman offers a unique look at medical history. We learn about Ignaz Semmelweis, a Viennese doctor who in the mid-1800s argued that obstetricians should wash their hands before delivering babies and, after being dismissed from his job and ostracized by his community, eventually landed in a mental hospital.We encounter Claude Bernard, a 19th-century physiologist who worked under constant accusations by antivivisectionists that his experiments on animals were a crime against nature and society. He was eventually disowned by his parents.

Hellman also reviews the beneficial effects of scientific controversy. We learn how Louis Pasteur, thriving in the midst of the many battles he faced, came up with even more significant advances as a result of his trouble. We see Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta, debaters of "animal electricity," slugging it out–and egging each other on–acrosss 18th-century Europe. We witness the discovery of DNA and the war over the discovery of the AIDS virus, HIV.

By shedding light on these feuds, Hellman reveals how our lives might have been different had these medical discoveries–and the disputes that followed–never occurred. From William Harvey’s 17th-century battle with the medical establishment over his discovery that blood circulates and Jonas Salk’s legendary fight with Albert Sabin over polio vaccinations (a fight Salk ultimately lost) to the nasty recent dispute between American Robert Gallo and French researcher Luc Montagnier over who first discovered HIV, this eye-opening book conveys how the high-stakes battle between ideas and ambition, evidence and ego, characterizes medical advancement. Ultimately, Great Feuds in Medicine reveals that quarrels are not only typical of, but often necessary to, the progress of medicine.

From the Back Cover:

"An entertaining and informative account of the unusual personalities and sometimes bitter rivalries of some of the world’s great-est scientific minds."--Publishers Weekly

"Hellman’s stories, other than taking greats down a peg by illustrating their jealousy, vitriol, or stubbornness, offer a few cautionary lessons about impediments to scientific progress....A pleasant compendium of amusements and lessons for science buffs."–Booklist

"Hellman reveals just how human science can be....While such fights, which sometimes got personal and even led to individual suffering and ruin, are not pretty, they are informative."–San Diego Union Tribune

"Unusual insight into the development of science....I was excited by this book and enthusiastically recommend it to general as well as scientific audiences."–American Scientist

"Hellman has assembled a series of entertaining tales.... Many fine examples of heady invective without parallel in our time."–Nature

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0471347574
• ISBN 13: 9780471347576
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256