A DAILY MAIL BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Spare Parts is a fascinating read filled with adventure, delight and surprise' RAHUL JANDIAL, surgeon author of 'Life on a Knife's Edge' 'This is a joyful romp through a fascinating slice of medical history' WENDY MOORE, author of 'The Knife Man' _______________________________________________________________ How did an architect help pioneer blood transfusion in the 1660s? Why did eighteenth-century dentists buy the live teeth of poor children? And what role did a sausage skin and an enamel bath play in making kidney transplants a reality? We think of transplant surgery as one of the medical wonders of the modern world. But transplant surgery is as ancient as the pyramids, with a history more surprising than we might expect. Paul Craddock takes us on a journey - from sixteenth-century skin grafting to contemporary stem cell transplants - uncovering stories of operations performed by unexpected people in unexpected places. Bringing together philosophy, science and cultural history, Spare Parts explores how transplant surgery constantly tested the boundaries between human, animal and machine, and continues to do so today. Witty, entertaining and at times delightfully macabre, Spare Parts shows us that the history - and future - of transplant surgery is tied up with questions about not only who we are, but also what we are, and what we might become. . .

When Melissa's gynecologist recommends she get a test specifically for women with a history of cancer in their families, she agrees. With seventeen immediate family members having had the disease, she knows she might not be happy with the results. But nothing can prepare Melissa for the outcome: She tests eighty-seven percent positive for breast cancer and forty-four percent positive for ovarian cancer, both by the age of forty. She faces a twenty percent chance of the cancer recurring in less than four years if she opts for chemotherapy and radiation. Those aren't good odds, and Melissa makes a brave decision: She has both breasts removed and goes through the process of breast reconstruction. In "Perky Mutant, " she shares how she made tough decisions, how surgeries affected her body, and what helped her get through the recovery process. She also includes week-by-week progressive photos to help other women going through the breast reconstruction process. With a cast of characters by her side that includes her husband, "Studly," Melissa somehow maintains her humor, wit, and hope. An inspirational story, "Perky Mutant" will help patients, their friends and family members learn, cope and laugh.

Alzheimer's hijacked their plans, required their full attention, and forced them to change their daily habits-their very lives-in order to accommodate its merciless, unrelenting demands. In "My Mom Inez," author Bob Miller shares the story of his family's life against the backdrop of Alzheimer's disease.

In this deeply personal and powerful account, Miller tells of his role as an only son who unexpectedly found himself in the position of having to care for his beloved mother, Inez, once it became clear she had been stricken with Alzheimer's disease. In this memoir, he narrates his struggles to understand what was happening and how he then coped with the emotional, medical, social, and economic issues her condition brings to their lives.

With the family's history interwoven, My Mom Inez demonstrates the strength of the human spirit as Miller remains dedicated to providing the same loving care for his mother that she delivered to him throughout his life.

This book reiterates the need for all stake holders involved in transfusion service delivery in Africa; from patients to the transfusion scientist, requesting clinicians, blood collection staff and distribution staff to work collaboratively to demonstrate judicious, world-class stewardship and use of the precious gifts of human blood as well as help people understand the limitations of blood supply. It is designed to emphasize the evidenced -based best practices in transfusion medicine in the developed world to enable countries in Africa optimise their transfusion service delivery to their patients.

Explorer-naturalists Robert Brown and Mungo Park played a pivotal role in the development of natural history and exploration in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This work is a fresh examination of the lives and careers of Brown and Park and their impact on natural history and exploration. Brown and Park were part of a group of intrepid naturalists who brought back some of the flora and fauna they encountered, drawings of what they observed, and most importantly, their ideas. The educated public back home was able to gain an understanding of the diversity in nature. This eventually led to the development of new ways of regarding the natural world and the eventual development of a coherent theory of organic evolution. This book considers these naturalists, Brown, Park, and their contemporaries, from the perspective of the Scottish Enlightenment. Brown's investigations in natural history created a fertile environment for breakthroughs in taxonomy, cytology, and eventually evolution. Brown's pioneering work in plant taxonomy allowed biologists to look at the animal and plant kingdoms differently. Park's adventures stimulated significant discoveries in exploration. Brown and Park's adventures formed a bridge to such journeys as Charles Darwin's voyage on H.M.S. Beagle, which led to a revolution in biology and full explication of the theory of evolution.

The life of Sir William Watson Cheyne spanned the flamboyant era of colonial expansion and some of the most important medical developments of the 19th century. His own role in these advances - as an eminent surgeon, an early researcher in medical bacteriology, a staunch ally of Lord Lister, an MP, and an intrepid traveller - has not previously been studied in depth. Fittingly for a man of meticulous detail, yet with a restless and pioneering imagination, his extraordinary story emerges from a fascinating mix of family and community memory and detailed archival research. Added to this resource is the sheer wonder of the digitisation of photographs and glass lantern slides from the family home - whereby faded sepia and scratched surfaces revive the 'ghosts' who took tea on the lawns of Leagarth House or served in the medical units of the Boer War. Many of these rare images are reproduced in the biography. When the author, then the manager of the museum on the remote Shetland island of Fetlar, first began to research 'Sir Watson' in 1999, she imagined 'in some small way ...restoring him to his rightful place in history'.She has surpassed this, both for readers of biography and for social historians, not only those those researching the history of medicine.

NASA SP-4113. The NASA History Series. Provides a biography of Dr. William H. Pickering. The dust jacket states: "More than any other individual Bill Pickering was responsible for America's success in exploring the planets, an endeavor that demanded vision, courage, dedication, expertise, and the ability to inspire two generations of scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory," a quote from Thomas P. Everhart.

This memoir details the ups and downs of a life in science, as well as the pleasures of life in Europe, Japan, and Africa. Alfred Prince describes the importance of his many friends in contributing to his education, successes in research, and pleasure in life. He also describes the enemies who made life difficult. A major portion of the book concentrates on the nature of chimpanzees, which have played such an important role in Dr Prince's research. The relationship between these near human animals and man is extensively explored. Finally, Prince speculates on the creation of a chimp-human hybrid, MANZEE, in the hope that this offspring could cast further light on the relationship between these two closely related animals.

The medical profession is rich in those who have made names for themselves outside of medicine. The fields of literature, exploration, business, sport, entertainment, and beyond abound with doctors whose interests lie outside medicine. This book, largely written by members of the medical profession, examines the efforts of doctors in non-medical fields. The doctors discussed here are those who are, or were, well-known to the public for their contributions to their non-medical fields of choice. In many cases, the public may have been unaware that a subject was medically qualified. This book provides wide-ranging and comprehensive biographical sketches of forty-two doctors who are best known to the public for their contributions to fields outside of medicine.

J Martin Littlejohn was a person who stood literally and figuratively shoulder to shoulder with the founder of osteopathy, A T Still. A proud presbyterian Scot who made his career and reputation in the USA, only to have it questioned and discredited after returning to pursue his osteopathic practice in London, Littlejohn was a controversial character. Undoubtedly a pioneer in establishing osteopathic medicine both in the USA and in the UK, he was also a fraud, using contentious qualifications to promote his academic and scientific credibility. No one has been able to write a comprehensive study of Littlejohn until now. John O'Brien has spent years researching the man. Using the objective eye of a professional historian, he has visited the institutions of Littlejohn's life and career, in Northern Ireland, Chicago, Illinois and Kirksville, Missouri, and the National Osteopathic Archive in London, as well as holding interviews with Littlejohn's family in the UK. He was granted access to previously unseen historic material as well as personal family mementos and photographs. This book will be read by anyone with an interest in the history of osteopathy. It gives a thorough description of the life and work of J Martin Littlejohn, with a broad analysis of how and why he took the major decisions to affect his career, for good or bad. And of course the consequences of those decisions, which had a major influence on the development of osteopathy in the 20th century. Key points: * 30 photographs, some previously unseen * Author access to previously unseen archives * Contributions from Littlejohn's family

At age eight Marilyn Harlin already knew she wanted to be a scientist. Throughout the peaks and valleys in her life-including widowhood when her husband fell off a mountain in Switzerland, and the challenges of raising two children on her own--she kept her eyes on her goal and eventually joined the faculty at the University of Rhode Island as its only female botany professor. Marilyn's mission in her career and into retirement has been to inspire youth, especially girls, to venture into the sciences. Making Waves is a memoir of a progressive life lived with passion.