Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface ix
Part I Surgery And Anesthesia 1
1 The Gleam of Cold Steel: Surgery without Anesthesia 3
2 Ether and Nitrous Oxide: Blessed Relief 7
3 Chloroform: The Clergy Objects 21
4 Cocaine Anesthesia: Freud's Favorite 31
Part II Implants 37
5 The Artificial Lens: A Legacy of Wartime 39
6 Good as New: Dental Implants 47
Part III Drugs That Affect The Blood 57
7 Vitamin K: Began with a Bleeding Chick 59
8 Dicumarol and Warfarin: Began with a Bleeding Cow 63
Part IV Drugs That Fight Infection 71
9 Smallpox: The Cure of a Lesser Evil 73
10 Penicillin: The Crucial Role of Weather 85
11 Streptomycin: A Major Dispute 95
12 Cephalosporins: Something in the Sewage 107
13 Peptic Ulcers: A Discovery in an Empty Lab 113
Part V Drugs That Affect The Heart 123
14 Nitroglycerin and Amyl Nitrite: Boom! 125
15 Digitalis: The Shropshire Woman and the Foxglove 131
16 The Tranquilizers: Two Chance Discoveries 139
17 LSD: A Mind-Blowing Accident 145
18 Lithium: The First Guinea Pigs ... Were Guinea Pigs! 151
19 Thorazine: A Cure from Curare 157
Part VI Thevitamins (Vit(Al) Amines) 165
20 The Naming of Vitamins: The Vital Missing Pieces 167
21 Vitamin B1: Brown Rice Cures Beriberi 171
22 Vitamin C: Another Battle for Priority 181
23 Vitamin D: Bowlegged Lion Cubs 191
Part VII Other Medical Discoveries 201
24 Insulin: The Role of Insomnia 203
25 Viagra: A Pleasant Surprise 215
26 X-rays: Bertha's Hand 225
Afterword: Acceptance of New Discoveries 235
About the Author 241
Index 243