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Dr. Mutter's Marvels
- A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
- Narrated by: Erik Singer
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
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Publisher's summary
A mesmerizing biography of the brilliant and eccentric medical innovator who revolutionized American surgery and founded the country's most famous museum of medical oddities
Imagine undergoing an operation without anesthesia performed by a surgeon who refuses to sterilize his tools - or even wash his hands. This was the world of medicine when Thomas Dent Mütter began his trailblazing career as a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia during the middle of the 19th century.
Although he died at just 48, Mütter was an audacious medical innovator who pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed, which clashed spectacularly with the sentiments of his time.
Brilliant, outspoken, and brazenly handsome, Mütter was flamboyant in every aspect of his life. He wore pink silk suits to perform surgery, added an umlaut to his last name just because he could, and amassed an immense collection of medical oddities that would later form the basis of Philadelphia's Mütter Museum.
Award-winning writer Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz vividly chronicles how Mütter's efforts helped establish Philadelphia as a global mecca for medical innovation - despite intense resistance from his numerous rivals. (Foremost among them: Charles D. Meigs, an influential obstetrician who loathed Mütter's "overly" modern medical opinions.) In the narrative spirit of The Devil in the White City, Dr. Mütter's Marvels interweaves an eye-opening portrait of 19th-century medicine with the riveting biography of a man once described as the "P. T. Barnum of the surgery room".
Critic reviews
A best Book of 2014
Amazon.com
The Onion’s AV Club
The Guardian
Library Journal
School Library
Journalio9.com
Science Friday
"Ms. Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy and gusto. Her book, like the Mütter Museum, is a reminder that the course of human suffering and the progress of medical science are often messy, complex and stranger than can be imagined." (Wall Street Journal)
"[Aptowicz’s] passion for the topic is what makes this book ultimately fascinating.... The research is meticulous, and the author recounts Mütter’s life with flair. It’s a fantastic yarn...a compelling tale." (Austin American Statesmen)
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When Pauline Chen began medical school 20 years ago, she dreamed of saving lives. What she did not count on was how much death would be a part of her work. Almost immediately, Chen found herself wrestling with medicine's most profound paradox: that a profession premised on caring for the ill also systematically depersonalizes dying. Final Exam follows Chen over the course of her education, training, and practice as she grapples at strikingly close range with the problem of mortality.
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Not just about end of life
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The True History of the Elephant Man
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- By: Michael Howell, Peter Ford
- Narrated by: Steve West
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- Unabridged
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Due to horrible physical deformities, he spent much of his life as a fairground freak. He was hounded, persecuted, and starving, until his fortune changed and he was rescued, housed, and fed by the distinguished surgeon, Frederick Treves. The subject of several books, a Broadway hit, and a film, Joseph Merrick has become part of popular mythology. Here, in this fully revised edition containing much fresh information, are the true and un-romanticized facts of his life.
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Amazing man!
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Dr. Benjamin Rush
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A revealing biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush - fiery signer of the Declaration of Independence, prominent physician, ardent politician, zealous social reformer, passionate humanitarian, and dedicated educator. Known primarily as America's most influential and leading physician, Rush was also among the first to call for the abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, free education and health care for the poor, slum clearance, citywide sanitation facilities, an end to child labor, and universal public education, among other causes.
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A Great Humanitarian
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Get Well Soon
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In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon 34 more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-19th-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome - a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure.
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Rosalind Franklin
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Rosalind Franklin was what can only be called an overlooked genius. Although she was not fully credited for the feat at the time, her work led to major breakthroughs in our understanding of DNA. In fact, she took the first X-ray photo of DNA in all of its double helix glory. By the time her former colleagues were being showered with accolades for results they made at least partially based on her findings, Franklin would not be around to see it. Sadly, it’s believed that her use of X-ray equipment gave her terminal cancer, cutting her life short at age 37.
By: Hourly History
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Asleep
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In 1918, a world war raged, and a lethal strain of influenza circled the globe. In the midst of all this death, a bizarre disease appeared in Europe. Eventually known as encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness, it spread worldwide, leaving millions dead or locked in institutions. Then, in 1927, it disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. Asleep, set in 1920s and '30s New York, follows a group of neurologists through hospitals and asylums as they try to solve this epidemic and treat its victims - who learned the worst fate was not dying of it, but surviving it.
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Scary, and still unsolved, medical mystery
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The Remedy
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In 1875, tuberculosis was the deadliest disease in the world, accountable for a third of all deaths. A diagnosis of TB - often called consumption - was a death sentence. Then, in a triumph of medical science, a German doctor named Robert Koch deployed an unprecedented scientific rigor to discover the bacteria that caused TB. Koch soon embarked on a remedy - a remedy that would be his undoing. When Koch announced his cure for consumption, Arthur Conan Doyle, then a small-town doctor in England and sometime writer, went to Berlin to cover the event.
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thought-provoking
- By Jean on 07-06-14
By: Thomas Goetz
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Your Heart, My Hands
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Leaving a life marked by crippling setbacks and his father's doubt, in 1967 a 20-something doctor from India arrived in America with only five dollars and the desire to claim his American dream. Faced with an entirely new culture, racism, and the lasting effects of disabling childhood injuries, through hard work and perseverance he overcame all odds. Now having performed over 15,000 open-heart surgeries, more than nearly every surgeon in history, Dr. Singh reflects on his most memorable patients and his incredible personal life.
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Remarkable!
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King of Hearts
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G. Wayne Miller has dramatically and meticulously reconstructed an amazing true story: how a group of renegade Minnesota surgeons, led by Dr. Walt Lillehei, made medical history by becoming the first doctors to operate deep inside the human heart.
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Loved every minute
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Polio
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This comprehensive and gripping narrative, which received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for history, covers all the challenges, characters, and controversies in America's relentless struggle against polio. Funded by philanthropy and grassroots contributions, Salk's killed-virus vaccine (1954) and Sabin's live-virus vaccine (1961) began to eradicate this dreaded disease.
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Wonderful
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The Greater Journey
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The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.
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McCullough takes it to the next level
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Brotherhood
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The Chopra brothers were among the most eager and ambitious of the new generation. In the 1970s, they each emigrated to the United States to make a new life. Both faced tough obstacles: while Deepak encountered resistance from Western-trained doctors over what he called the mind-body connection, Sanjiv struggled to reconcile the beliefs of his birthplace with those of his new home. Eventually, each brother became convinced that America was the right place to build a life, and the Chopras went on to great achievements.
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How to Toot Your Horn
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A Warrior of the People
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On March 14, 1889, Susan La Flesche received her medical degree - becoming the first Native American doctor in US history. She earned her degree 31 years before women could vote and 35 years before Indians could become citizens in their own country. This is the story of an Indian woman who effectively became the chief of an entrenched patriarchal tribe, the story of a woman who crashed through thick walls of ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice and then spent the rest of her life using a unique bicultural identity to improve the lot of her people.
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A Remarkable Woman
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They Were Christians
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What do Abraham Lincoln, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Louis Pasteur, Frederick Douglass, Florence Nightingale, and John D. Rockefeller, Sr., all have in common? They all changed the world - and they were all Christians. Now the little-known stories of faith behind 12 influential people of history are available in one inspiring volume. They Were Christians reveals the faith-filled motivations behind some of the most outstanding political, scientific, and humanitarian contributions of history.
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Great book
- By Amazon Customer on 12-10-18
By: Cristobal Krusen
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What listeners say about Dr. Mutter's Marvels
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- serine
- 04-08-16
Morbidly wonderful
Living in Philadelphia, to me the Mutter Museum was a cool place that housed the strange tools of physician's past. When I think of Mutter, I think of awesomely creepy tales of how we once treated patients-- awake, screaming, and with devices that now serve as fodder for our better horror flicks. I had no idea that, in reading this book, I would come to know and love the dynamic and empathetic Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter. Though I already knew Mutter was long dead, I felt a real loss when the author took me to his death, back in 1856. Interestingly, Wiki has page for the Mutter Museum but not a page for Mutter himself! I am hoping this author might remedy that (or that someone less lazy than me will rise to the task).
In this book, Christian O'Keefe Aptowicz provides a rich history of the medical education undertaken by students as well as medical practices in early America through the 1900s. The author's focus is on one of the most innovative and compassionate doctors in history, Dr. Mutter. Mutter attended America's first and foremost medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. He went on to play a pivotal role in helping make the newest medical school, Jefferson Medical College, a great success. In his time as educator and surgeon, he witnessed the birth of anesthesia (which he was oddly forbidden to use for quite some time), performed ground-breaking plastic surgery on burn victims, dealt with other doctors who were more interested in feeding their own egos than pushing medicine forward, and navigated Victorian society (which was decidedly less progressive than he). This book also touches on some interesting aspects of germ theory, women in medicine, and slavery and abolition (in both the North and South). It even provides a quick history of the famous students who were taught and inspired by Mutter. My only wish were that the book were longer and provided even more information about this incredible man's short but fruitful life that had quite an impact on the face of medicine.
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33 people found this helpful
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- Picky girl
- 11-03-14
Maybe not the best in audiobook format
Any additional comments?
The book was well written on a paragraph by paragraph level. However, overall, I found it disjointed. It didn't flow in a logical way. It jumped around in time a bit and focused on quite a few main characters. I also didn't think their was enough said on the actual surgical techniques he pioneered and how these procedures affected the patients.
It was ok. The narration is great and it's an interesting topic but I've listened to other similar books on audible that were much more engaging and detailed.
If I could go back in time I probably would not purchase it again.
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23 people found this helpful
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- Todd
- 10-08-14
Creepy. Wonderful. Lost history.
I've been to the Mutter museum and it is fantastically wonderfully, odd, creepy and 100% American. After listening to this book, I have an entirely different context, and I want to go back to the museum tomorrow.
This is "lost history." We know the big stuff that happened, but this book is a wonderful example of the day-to-day lives of people, and of a city that wears its history on its sleeve.
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20 people found this helpful
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- L. M. Roberts
- 04-21-15
Fascinating Medical History
This is a somewhat disjointed story of an early 19th century surgeon whose innovations were instrumental in the advancement of the medical profession. Thomas Mutter (MOO-ter) is someone most of us never heard of, yet he pioneered procedures that are still used today.
That said, the audiobook made me really appreciate the art of narration. If the author's prose is a bit florid, the narrator's tendency toward melodrama pulls the whole thing together in a way that fits the period when the story is set.
The "Marvels" refers to a collection of specimens Dr Mutter accumulated over his career, I suspect the title was imposed on the book by the publisher after it was written, because the collection is a very small part of the book as a whole story.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Dr. JSH
- 11-07-17
As fascinating as the Mutter Museum itself.
I visited the Mutter Museum years ago, for a private reception during the evening. Eating hors d'oeuvres surrounded by in-the-flesh (literally) preserved examples of anatomy gone awry did feel a bit macabre, but I walked out much better-informed of the "monsters" (the author's term) that most of us don't see on an everyday basis.
Although I very much enjoyed my time at the Mutter Museum, I didn't know anything at all about Dr. Mutter till I listened to this book.
Overall, the book is quite interesting, which one could say for Dr. Mutter himself. I highly recommend this book to people interested in the history of medicine or 19th century America, but I also think listeners would enjoy "Dr. Mutter's Marvels" just to learn more about the life, shortcomings, successes, and legacy of Dr. Mutter -- not to mention his contemporaries, some of whom staunchly opposed Mutter's approaches to teaching students and treating patients.
I did fast-forward through a couple of chapters. The author went on and on about Dr. Mutter's students who fought in the Civil War and also about the many students and professional colleagues who eulogized him after his death. Their lives mattered and/or their words were sentimental and heartfelt, but most of these people had not been mentioned previously in the book and I was interested in learning about Mutter. These sections of text felt out of context because I couldn't identify with those who were named and also because they didn't provide any new information about Dr. Mutter.
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- Carolyn
- 05-22-17
An example every doctor should follow
Where does Dr. Mutter's Marvels rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
By far, the best biography. T.D. Mutter was a truly extraordinary man whose skill in the mid-nineteenth century operating room was matched only by his humanity and compassion for his patients. Not only did he help to pioneer the field of restorative surgery, providing better quality of life - and extended life - to those whom society deemed 'monsters' but his surgical techniques are still used today, and the model of behavior he set for his students and colleagues is one that the best physicians still emulate. I often found tears in my eyes as I listened to the accounts of some of the operations he performed on people who came to his office, intending to commit suicide if he could not help them, for they had no real quality of life due to their deformities.
I don't know how many medical instructors speak of Mutter today, but as far as I'm concerned, a study of his life should be standard reading for any class on medical history.
I also intend, if a get the chance, to visit the museum that now houses his collection.
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- Patricia Ferrer
- 03-29-17
required reading for every medical professional
ones appreciation for medical innovation, awareness, mindfulness and compassion is brought to light and should forever shine in our lifelong careers.
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- zein
- 03-08-15
Would recommend!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, it was a fascinating time in medicine and I learned so much.
What other book might you compare Dr. Mutter's Marvels to and why?
I haven't read another book that is similar
Have you listened to any of Erik Singer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I haven't but he did a great job.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The beginning part of the book was the best. It really delved into Mutter, his early life, plastic surgery and the beginning of anesthesia.
Any additional comments?
The end of the book really started to meander. The last chapter was necessary but there were a few chapters before the last that really were a complete tangent. Overall though, a book worth reading.
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- Calliope
- 09-13-15
A wonderful listen!
This is a great biography of an innovative doctor and, because he lived and worked over 150 years ago, it is also a look at the world he lived in at the time.....the state of medicine, the state of city life, the state of social mores and societal classes. Mutter had a different view towards this patients and his students that shook up the medical world, and he specialized in correcting deformities to bring new life to people who were shunned by society because of their appearance. He was an "early adopter" of the then-radical ideas - ideas like the benefits of good hygiene to prevent doctors from spreading disease to their patients, and the use of ether to provide anesthesia during surgery.
The narration was great, which added and clarified the interesting and enjoyable text.
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- sheryl
- 04-30-15
Great read
Really interesting I loved it so many historical information things you never heard of in normal text books. Lots of quirky things
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