Dr. Mutter's Marvels Deluxe: A True Tale Of Intrigue And Innovation At The Dawn Of Modern Medicine (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
I work in health care and have a microbiology degree so I am fascinated by early medical history. But you don't have to be in the medical field to find this book one that is hard to put down. Even over the rush of the holidays I longed for 30 minutes of solitude to read more about Dr Mutter and his humanism in the era of physicians as Gods. This book is engaging and well written about an amazing and important physician who made great contributions to the medical field that he loved. I am eager to take a trip to Philadelphia and see the Mutter Museum left as his legacy to the patients he loved and the medical students to come after him. I'm a big nerd for medical history books, so this one was right up my alley. This book is strongest when focusing on the medical parts of the story: individual cases, the new developments in medicine, what the new surgeries that were being developed meant to the lives of the people they helped. I think medical history books always remind me of just how far we've come as a society, less than 200 years ago doctors were still not washing their hands, 1 in 50 women died in childbirth, disease outbreaks were a constant concern in any city and would kill hundreds in short periods of time. It's difficult in this book really to distinguish between the accomplishments of Dr. Mutter, and just the progression of science at that time. Dr. Mutter was definitely an advocate and supporter of many new ideas at the time: anesthesia, hands-on medical training, post-operative surgical care, but the book doesn't really get into just how unique these ideas were except to contrast them to other doctors he directly encountered. Though I'm sure there were many people doing the same things elseware, the book effectively shines a light on an individual who clearly did make a large difference both in his local community and the medical community as a whole.The book is weakest when focusing on personal relationships. The "conflicts" that arise throughout the books are frequently just presented as doctors having different opinions about things, and though that can create conflict, and I'm sure these doctors weren't all best friends, there wasn't a lot of support in setting up the doctors as huge rivals who the fields rallied behind one or the other. People in science disagree, ideas about things change, it takes awhile to sort that all out. But if you're interested in medical history, particularly medical teaching and surgical techniques, this is an interesting look at both the field at the time and an individual who had a wide influence in a short amount of time.
What do You think about Dr. Mutter's Marvels Deluxe: A True Tale Of Intrigue And Innovation At The Dawn Of Modern Medicine (2014)?
An interesting book well written and detailed but readable if you're not too squeamish!
—budfan
Finally a book about a man that I have be curious about for many years.
—Tyreshaissweet
I didn't finish it. Badly written I thought.
—landon
