The Anatomists

This is the story of Nicolaus Steno, a 17th century anatomist who cut up a giant shark, founded a new science, then retired to become a bishop and wound up beatified in the 1980s. It's a story about the culture of science in the 17th century, the origins of geology, and the interrelatedness of different disciplines.

19th century maternity wards were haunted by the specter of childbed fever: otherwise known as the "doctor's plague," since it seemed to follow physicians from bed to bed. This is the story of Ignaz Semmelweis, whose discovery saved lives but whose inability to communicate it prevented wider acceptance.

Werner Forssmann was a cardiac surgery pioneer who has the claim to fame of being the first to perform a cardiac catheterization on a human being. He is also famous for being the first to have a cardiac catheterization performed on him, because he experimented on himself.A physician, a researcher, a Nobel prize winner, a member of the Nazi party, and to some extent a blindly apolitical and even amoral observer of World War II Germany from within, Forssmann’s story is worth knowing for its role in medical history and its perspective on world history.

In 1874, Theodor Kocher could do what other surgeons thought impossible: safe, efficient thyroid surgery. He was at the height of his career when a letter arrived questioning everything he had worked for, and changing the history of medicine forever.