The Invention of Surgery

A History of Modern Medicine: From the Renaissance to the Implant Revolution

By: David Schneider MD

Narrated by: Peter Noble

Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's Summary

Written by an author with plenty of experience holding a scalpel, Dr. David Schneider's in-depth biography is an encompassing history of the practice that has leapt forward over the centuries from the dangerous guesswork of ancient Greek physicians through the world-changing implant revolution of the 20th century. 

The Invention of Surgery explains this dramatic progress and highlights the personalities of the discipline's most dynamic historical figures. It links together the lives of the pioneering scientists who first understood what causes disease, how organs become infected or cancerous, and how surgery could powerfully intercede in people's lives, and then shows how the rise of surgery intersected with many of the greatest medical breakthroughs of the last century, including the evolution of medical education, the transformation of the hospital from a place of dying to a habitation of healing, the development of antibiotics, and the rise of transistors and polymer science. And as Schneider argues, surgery has not finished transforming; new technologies are constantly reinventing both the practice of surgery and the nature of the objects we are permanently implanting in our bodies. Schneider considers these latest developments, asking "What's next?", and analyzing how our conception of surgery has changed alongside our evolving ideas of medicine, technology, and our bodies.

©2020 David Schneider, MD (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Yup, this is the one you’re looking for...

Just a really well written book on its own.
History is presented by telling the story of the people/situations who/that made it and the authors own experience.
The pacing of the book is fantastic.
Narrator sounds great at 1.2x speed.
Only one chapter (tallying the impact) wasn’t able to hold my attention.

Joint dysfunction in need of excision

This book is disjointed and needs an editor. It would be more appropriately be titled “A book about some history of surgery and mostly orthopedic surgery and implants”. Perhaps it was to be called “The Implant Revolution” and author changed title when unable to publish with that title. The author an orthopedic surgeon waxes about inventors of devices and slips into the bravado known for orthopedic surgeons when describing any successes or inventions in orthopedic surgery. It appears the book may have been retitled for marketing reasons. Equally enthusiastic the authors discussion of failures in implant companies such as Depuy Orthopedics. The book is interesting but disjointed and perhaps in need of some surgical editorial excision and remediation.

As a physician I enjoyed this book greatly

As a physician I knew some of the details presented but found much new and fascinating. John Hunter has long been a hero mine if that can be said of someone long dead. As I listened I realized I have implants; lenses to replace cataracts and a tooth. I trained at thre Mayo and remember hearing the story behind the decision to treat the nurse with Streptomycin for T B. It involved 6 rats. 2 untreated who had TB. 2 with T B treated with Streptomycin. 2 without T B who also received Streptomycin. The 4 that received Streptomycin survived. On the basis of that the decision was made to treat. Successfully. Sadly Streptomycin resistance has now made it no longer useful in T B treatment.
I recall when the FDA first proposed monitoring and regulating heart valves (my interest) and how worried everyone was. While the FDA isn't without fault it beats the wild West that used to exist. It made mistakes in monitoring the manufacturer of generic Heparin that threatened the lifesaving supply. And it has allowed drugs like oxycontin. Improving i the FDA is the clear goal.
I like the idea of loners tinkering to make discoveries of great New insights.
The enumeration of the number and variety of implant placed each year was perhaps too long but made that point of how it is impacting everyone's life.
In a world where factories need few workers perhaps spending that extra wealth on health Care won't be a bad thing. What is better than taking care of one another?
Predicting the future is admitting you are willing to be wrong but hoping you get the broad outline.
The current Covid pandemic is a reminder we need to solve the population problem.

Fascinating and well researched

Wow. What a great book, not to mention a good choice on the narrator. I'm not a medical student or professional, yet this was just fascinating. So much interesting history of how we got to where we're at today in our health care capabilities and expectations for quality of life. So much we take for granted.

As one with a Christian worldview, all the stories in here remind me of the wisdom and goodness of God in creation and throughout history.

Fantastic!

I love this book. I found it fascinating how medicine was tied in directly with history. If you are a medically oriented person that loves history this is THE book for you.

Incredible book, incredible writing

Invention of surgery is potentially the most interesting story of weaved history to anyone interested in the history of medicine or current medical practice. The voice actor who reads this story however sounds kinda crazy but doesn’t take away from the content which is excellent

Fascinating! I didn’t know much about the topic and learned a ton!

Fascinating! I didn’t know much about the topic and learned a ton! Like a history lesson with the authors own story as a framework. We’ll done!

Perfect for me, enjoyable for the average person

As an orthopedic surgery resident and someone with a passion for medical history I absolutely loved this book. The comprehensive coverage of a plethora of medical events satisfied my curiosity. At times the book was meandering and disorganized, which I didn’t mind but some may not like. Overall if you are someone that is curious about the history of surgery, this book is the right one for you.

Nice & concise historical look at surgery!

As a retired physician, I really enjoyed this audiobook! Somethings I knew while others were new to me, but entire book was interesting and well researched. A great listen for medical and non medical people alike!