Ether Day

The Strange Tale of America's Greatest Medical Discovery and the Haunted Men Who Made It

By: J M Fenster

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Paperback | 8 October 2002

At a Glance

Paperback
288 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.32 x 13.34 x 1.83

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A fascinating and entertaining look at the men behind the first surgical use of anesthesia--and the price they paid for their breakthrough.

On Friday, October 16, 1846, only one operation was scheduled at Massachusetts General Hospital....

That day in Boston, the operation was the routine removal of a growth from a man's neck. But one thing would not be routine: instead of using pulleys, hooks, and belts to subdue a patient writhing in pain, this crucial operation would be the first performed under a general anesthetic. No one knew whether the secret concoction would work. Some even feared it might kill the patient.

This engrossing book chronicles what happened that day and during its dramatic aftermath. In a vivid history that is stranger than fiction, Ether Day tells the story of the three men who converged to invent the first anesthesia--and the war of ego and greed that soon sent all three men spiraling wildly out of control.

Industry Reviews

"A fascinating chronicle of jealousy, greed, chicanery, and outright fraud, sometimes darkly funny, sometimes appalling." -- Richard Snow, editor, American Heritage

"The personal side heroic, comic, and tragic--of the early history of anesthesia has never been more vividly recreated than in Julie Fenster's well researched and crisply written book." -- Roy Porter, author of The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity

"A riveting saga.... This is non-fiction story telling at its absolute finest." -- Douglas Brinkley, Historian

"A steady and witty guide to the fascinating charges and frustrations that grew out of Ether Day." -- New York Times Book Review

"It would not be inappropriate to compare anesthesia history to a Shakespearean play. Here we have all the ingredients: tragedy, comedy, farce, a well-drawn set of characters, and intricate subplots. All this and more can be found in Ether Day." -- Journal of the American Medical Association

"The cast of characters here is a rich one. . . . A thoroughly compelling account, well told and well situated in its larger context." -- Kirkus Reviews

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List of Illustrations	p. ix
Prologue: The Laughing-Gas Joke	p. 1
Ether Day	p. 5
A Blank Whirlwind of Emotion	p. 21
The Hilarity Before Ether Day	p. 33
The Entertainment Is Scientific	p. 53
Unwilling Collaboration	p. 65
Silence in the Dome	p. 77
The Confidence Man	p. 81
Next What?	p. 95
Power Struggle	p. 106
A World Waiting	p. 117
Repelled by a Common Moment	p. 124
Charles Jackson's Universe	p. 128
Horace Wells in Paris	p. 146
Chlory	p. 164
All Alone at the Tombs	p. 176
In the Lobby of the Willard Hotel	p. 187
Emerson's Wife's Brother	p. 201
Morton's Civil War	p. 213
Poison in the Beams	p. 226
In Dr. Jackson's Scrapbook	p. 230
Epilogue: Since Ether Day	p. 240
Endnotes	p. 243
Selected Bibliography	p. 265
Acknowledgments	p. 267
Index	p. 269
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Ether Day

The Strange Tale of America's Greatest Medical Discovery and the Haunted Men Who Made It

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

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How to return your order

Defective items

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