Out Cold

A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia

De: Phil Jaekl

Narrado por: Matt Kugler

“A fascinating look into the strange and sometimes unbelievable history of hypothermic medicine. Jaekl weaves together a story that is part history lesson and part science thriller. This is truly a must-read for any fan of science and science fiction!” —Douglas Talk, MD/MPH, chief medical consultant, SpaceWorks Inc., Human Torpor Project

The meaning of the word “hypothermia” has Greek origins and roughly translates to “less heat.” Its symptoms can be deadly—shivering, followed by confusion, irrationality, and even the illusion of feeling hot. But hypothermia has another side—it can be therapeutic.

In Out Cold, science writer Phil Jaekl chronicles the underappreciated story of human innovation with cold, from Ancient Egypt, where it was used to treat skin irritations, to eighteenth-century London, where scientists used it in their first explorations of suspended animation. Throughout history, physicians have used cold to innovate life extension, enable distant space missions, and explore consciousness.

Hypothermia may still conjure macabre images, like the bodies littering Mt. Everest and disembodied heads in cryo-freezers, but the reality is that modern science has invented numerous new life-saving cooling techniques based on what we’ve learned over the centuries. And Out Cold reveals a surprisingly warm future for this chilling state.

Interesting history

I just thought I would get something different, but not sure what. The chapters went on too long and I wasn’t in to the narrators voice.

layers of "wows"

this book is the current book for our book club, so i ahd a lng trip and used this as my companion. this is a book that is a fascinating LISTEN. this is the kind of book i am glad i did not purchased as an in hand
1. i am running out of home library space and 2. did not have the time to sit and read, 3. i think i would have gotten bored at the sit down bc it is very detailed in lineage and constant information.
the information about some of the history is unsettling and gruesome. yet critically important to understand the horrors that nazi germany unleashed on jewish peoples and how this genocide still impacts everyone and is still footnoted in science today.
even tho this was THE toughest part of the story on hypothermia, overall, this is a good lesson.

fascinating and informative

4 stars - It was really good

Out Cold chronicles the history of using cold in medicine and hyperthermia. This covers experimentations, accidents, and all different kinds of medical marvels. This is a topic that is not really something that I have ever really thought of when it comes to medical history, but it ended up being a really fascinating one.

I learned a lot about hypothermia and the use of cold in medicine from this. I never even heard of all the people who were mentioned in this book, so I was constantly captivated by the interesting, and sometimes horrific, experiments and cures they did with cold treatments. This even covers things like how to handle the cold of space for astronauts and possibilities of hibernation for long term space flights.

Not only does this discuss medical marvels, but it also covers more modern things like cryonics and how people are freezing themselves after death in the hopes of being revived in the future. This goes over the origins of cryonics with Robert Ettinger, the first people put into cryogenic pods after death, the many controversies and failures, and its current outlook. I found this section so fascinating because while I have heard of cryonics, I never really done any research into it because I know it's not something I want to do with my body when I die.

Overall, this was a fascinating look at hypothermia, cold treatments, and how cold has been used throughout history and today. I learned a lot and want to do more research on some of the people and things discussed in this book now.

TW: treatment and experiments that was basically torture; animal testing, abuse, and death;

Left cold.

This book has a number of interesting anecdotes from historical events. How ever is spoild by fantasy speculation in others. Form its recolection of cryonic events it shows this to be a failure rather than a blind redo of aome real possibility.

Well Rounded

This book covers a wide range of areas that hypothermia and cold touch and it is massive! We are introduced to the history of cryogenic as well as the cooling processes in the medical field. If you have ever wanted to know more about this area I highly recommend grabbing this book.