Book: Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution by Holly Tucker
Holly Tucker creates a masterful (and very well researched) historical account of blood transfusion in 17th century England and France. Through her in-depth study of blood transfusion in history, Tucker succeeds in detailing the fundamental changes in the practice of science and medicine during this era. Tucker focuses her story on 17th century England and France during a time when the stagnating theories of Galen began to be modernized.
Galen, a revolutionary medical theorist from the second century, was a staunch supporter to Hippocrates' humoral theory, in which bodily health is dependent on the balance of the four humors (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm). Applying this theory to the circulatory system in particular, Galen was a founding practitioner of bloodletting. At the time bloodletting was a revolutionary practice, and a practice that many of us in the modern world look down upon as idiotic and irrational. However, Tucker points out that Galen, who theorized that blood was produced by the liver and burned in the heart which acted like an engine of sorts, developed the practice of bloodletting justified by rational thought consistent with this theory. If, as he supposed, blood was burned in the heart, then having too much blood would lead to overheating of the body. Thus, feverish patients could be assumed to have too much blood. Letting out some of that blood through the practice of bloodletting was a rational solution to the problem of overheating (or feverishness).
A lot of scientists these days would condemn Galen as a quack who produced an insane model of human disease. However, I would argue that Galen was awesome! If all of the doctors in the history of medicine had theorized (and come up with crazy ideas) to the same level that Galen had, then our modern medical technology would be more advanced than the most futuristic science fiction film. One of the true driving forces behind all intellectual progress is crazy theorizing; we can look to Freud as an example, someone who created a unique theory that then revolutionized the study of psychology, even though these theories have been (essentially) proved false.
The problem with a Galenic practice of medicine was that doctors from the 2nd century well into the 17th century (15 centuries!) followed his teachings as though law, and because of this affinity for his theories, the medical world stagnated, for the most part. Tucker picks up the story in a time when revolutionary discoveries were being made about the circulatory system and about human anatomy, which allowed the doctors of the day to cast off the ancient (yet helpful) theories of Galen in favor of more contemporary models of human disease. The separation of Medicine from Galen theory was not a free action and was met with much, much resistance, particularly from the University of Paris medical faculty. During this time of professional and spiritual conflict about blood, the course of Medicine changed, setting history on the course toward today's Medicine (for better or for worse).
The book follows the lives of several scientists and doctors in 17th century England and France. This story, in my opinion, is extremely well articulated and presented in a very readable format. I would highly recommend this book to anyone even tangentially interested in scientific or medical history.
You can purchase the book through amazon here.
Also check out the goodreads page here.
Galen, a revolutionary medical theorist from the second century, was a staunch supporter to Hippocrates' humoral theory, in which bodily health is dependent on the balance of the four humors (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm). Applying this theory to the circulatory system in particular, Galen was a founding practitioner of bloodletting. At the time bloodletting was a revolutionary practice, and a practice that many of us in the modern world look down upon as idiotic and irrational. However, Tucker points out that Galen, who theorized that blood was produced by the liver and burned in the heart which acted like an engine of sorts, developed the practice of bloodletting justified by rational thought consistent with this theory. If, as he supposed, blood was burned in the heart, then having too much blood would lead to overheating of the body. Thus, feverish patients could be assumed to have too much blood. Letting out some of that blood through the practice of bloodletting was a rational solution to the problem of overheating (or feverishness).
A lot of scientists these days would condemn Galen as a quack who produced an insane model of human disease. However, I would argue that Galen was awesome! If all of the doctors in the history of medicine had theorized (and come up with crazy ideas) to the same level that Galen had, then our modern medical technology would be more advanced than the most futuristic science fiction film. One of the true driving forces behind all intellectual progress is crazy theorizing; we can look to Freud as an example, someone who created a unique theory that then revolutionized the study of psychology, even though these theories have been (essentially) proved false.
The problem with a Galenic practice of medicine was that doctors from the 2nd century well into the 17th century (15 centuries!) followed his teachings as though law, and because of this affinity for his theories, the medical world stagnated, for the most part. Tucker picks up the story in a time when revolutionary discoveries were being made about the circulatory system and about human anatomy, which allowed the doctors of the day to cast off the ancient (yet helpful) theories of Galen in favor of more contemporary models of human disease. The separation of Medicine from Galen theory was not a free action and was met with much, much resistance, particularly from the University of Paris medical faculty. During this time of professional and spiritual conflict about blood, the course of Medicine changed, setting history on the course toward today's Medicine (for better or for worse).
The book follows the lives of several scientists and doctors in 17th century England and France. This story, in my opinion, is extremely well articulated and presented in a very readable format. I would highly recommend this book to anyone even tangentially interested in scientific or medical history.
You can purchase the book through amazon here.
Also check out the goodreads page here.