Murphy,
Jim. Breakthrough! Houghton Mifflin/Clarion 2015 129p $18.99 ISBN 978-0-547-82183-2 ms/hs Nonfiction
E-BN
Until the mid-1940s, heart surgery was
not a viable option for a patient or a surgeon.
When Drs. Alfred Blalock and Helen Taussig and surgical assistant Vivien
Thomas decided to operate on a “blue baby” as a last resort to save her life, it made medical
history. Murphy’s dramatic recounting of
the event reads like a thriller. The
descriptive narrative discusses the science behind the surgery, explaining the
causes of the congenital disease and its almost always fatal results and the
development of the specialized tools and equipment necessary to accomplish the
surgeons’ goals. It also delves into the
social mores of the time. The surgery
was performed at Johns Hopkins
Hospital in a still-segregated state. While Blalock receives most of the credit for
the surgery, it was Vivien Thomas, an African-American, who did much of the
research and designed the surgery, and it was Helen Taussig who pushed for its implementation. The author connects discussions of
discrimination against both African-Americans and women in medicine of that
period and debates over the merits of animal testing, with a look at the
backgrounds of the three people involved.
This inspiring chronicle about the surgery and all of the events that led up to it provides an utterly fascinating
and compelling history. The book is enhanced
by a wealth of primary-source material, black-and-white photographs, and sidebar information. The book ends with copious source notes, a
bibliography, and an index.
Summary: This inspiring chronicle of the first “blue baby” surgery and all
of the events that led up to it provides a utterly fascinating and compelling
history. The book is enhanced by a
wealth of primary-source material, black-and-white photographs, and sidebar
information.
Heart surgery-History --Susan Ogintz
