Items related to Blood: An Epic History of Medicine & Commerce
A history of human blood as a resource & humanity's attempts to understand & exploit it. The mythic & moral symbolism of blood, which has been with us since ancient times subtly endures. It clouded professional judgments & public perceptions in the AIDS scandals of France, Canada, & Japan. This liquid became symbolically transformed as society learned how to deconstruct & manage it. In the early 20th century, the concept of blood moved from the magical to the biological, recognized as a therapeutic liquid transfusible from one creature to another. Scientists developed techniques of mass collections, storage, & the separation of plasma, just in time for WW2. Later, the liquid that saved so many lives became the basis for a global industry.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Don't faint! Blood may be a highly charged substance, symbolic of our spirit and essential for life, but we can gain much from reflecting on its power over us. Science journalist Douglas Starr has examined the history of blood's medical uses, and his report is at once intellectually engaging and emotionally compelling. Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce covers the late 17th century to the present, detailing experiments with animal blood (one violent madman was briefly calmed by infused calf's blood), the long ban on transfusions, direct artery-to-vein suture between donor and recipient, and today's global blood-banking industry. It's a great story that shows the long climb from great risk and heroism to relative safety.
From the Publisher:
Our greatest stumble during this climb--the AIDS crisis of the 1980s--is the meat of the book. How could it have happened? Why were so many people given contaminated blood products after clear warnings about the risks of infection? Starr is unafraid to name names and lay bare the political and financial decisions that condemned so many thousands of hemophiliacs and surgical patients to early deaths. Those who don't learn from the past are bound to repeat it; Starr aims to help us keep the blood off of our hands. --Rob Lightner
Douglas Starr's history of blood in science, medicine, and commerce is
"Fascinating...A rich story admirably told"--New York Times
"Extraordinarily intriguing"--Science News
"Definitive...an outstanding chronicle"--Atlanta Journal
"Illuminating...More than historical narrative...Starr also provokes a good deal of thought about the mismanagement of this 'precious and dangerous medicine'"--Boston Globe
"Gripping"--Newsday
"'An exhaustive expose´ of the worldwide business of blood. Starr traces the links between the AIDS crisis and the distribution of contaminated blood products in the early 80's...An unnerving must-read on how the politics of blood affects us all"--The Advocate
"A story of appalling greed...Thoroughly documented"--Booklist
"Fascinating...Starr's book is the story of blood, but it is also the story of money, and the dance of death the two of them have lately been doing."
--New York Review of Books
"An intriguing book with some important lessons for public health."
--Business Week
"This rewarding book, filled with sharp science, has everything from a brief survey of bloodletting to the massive mobilization of donated blood for the invasion of Normandy. But its real subject is the postwar rise of the 'blood-services-complex,' which controls the global market for blood products."
--The New Yorker
"Spellbinding"
--The Sciences
"Totally fascinating"--Library Journal
"Fascinating...A rich story admirably told"--New York Times
"Extraordinarily intriguing"--Science News
"Definitive...an outstanding chronicle"--Atlanta Journal
"Illuminating...More than historical narrative...Starr also provokes a good deal of thought about the mismanagement of this 'precious and dangerous medicine'"--Boston Globe
"Gripping"--Newsday
"'An exhaustive expose´ of the worldwide business of blood. Starr traces the links between the AIDS crisis and the distribution of contaminated blood products in the early 80's...An unnerving must-read on how the politics of blood affects us all"--The Advocate
"A story of appalling greed...Thoroughly documented"--Booklist
"Fascinating...Starr's book is the story of blood, but it is also the story of money, and the dance of death the two of them have lately been doing."
--New York Review of Books
"An intriguing book with some important lessons for public health."
--Business Week
"This rewarding book, filled with sharp science, has everything from a brief survey of bloodletting to the massive mobilization of donated blood for the invasion of Normandy. But its real subject is the postwar rise of the 'blood-services-complex,' which controls the global market for blood products."
--The New Yorker
"Spellbinding"
--The Sciences
"Totally fascinating"--Library Journal
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherDiane Pub Co
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 0756792495
- ISBN 13 9780756792497
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages449
- Rating
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