Spare Parts

The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery

By: Paul Craddock

Narrated by: Paul Craddock

This program is read by the author.

Paul Craddock's Spare Parts offers an original look at the history of medicine itself through the rich, compelling, and delightfully macabre story of transplant surgery from ancient times to the present day.

How did an architect help pioneer blood transfusion in the 1660's?
Why did eighteenth-century dentists buy the live teeth of poor children?
And what role did a sausage skin and an enamel bath play in making kidney transplants a reality?

We think of transplant surgery as one of the medical wonders of the modern world. But transplant surgery is as ancient as the pyramids, with a history more surprising than we might expect. Paul Craddock takes us on a journey—from sixteenth-century skin grafting to contemporary stem cell transplants—uncovering stories of operations performed by unexpected people in unexpected places. Bringing together philosophy, science and cultural history, Spare Parts explores how transplant surgery constantly tested the boundaries between human, animal, and machine, and continues to do so today.

Witty, entertaining, and at times delightfully macabre, Spare Parts shows us that the history—and future—of transplant surgery is tied up with questions about not only who we are, but also what we are, and what we might become.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Paul Craddock (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Transplant Surgery was most often performed on?

Craddock's tantalizing opening claim is that the late 16th-century specialists learned a way of removing skin from an arm transplanting a nose to mask nasal bridge collapses caused by syphilis or mutilations from dueling, both common. In Italy, skin grafting had developed into a peasant practice, culturally and technically linked to the (peasant) practice of plant grafting. Everything is dark but interesting. Many afflictions---requiring surgery--- plaguing a vulnerable population mostly unaware of the actions taken that were/are fatally damaging to the body, mind and spirit.

Narration was slow

I had to speed up the narration to 1.5 be able to get through this since the voiceover was painfully slow. This feels like an appropriate read for Halloween given the ghoulish things that were done to animals and people.