Meet the brilliant mavericks who invented the future of medicine and saved the lives of millions.
The Essence of Invention tells the story of medical invention, from the development of anesthesia and safe surgery, through to the advent of vaccines against smallpox, polio, and Covid-19, that have changed the very foundation of patient care. Dr. Kieran Murphy, a renowned neuroradiologist and inventor in his own right, captures the mind of the inventor — their turmoil, their persistence, their rejection by their peers — and how a small percentage are eventually recognized.
The same kind of energy that drove van Gogh or the Beatles can manifest in medicine as inventiveness and the creation of new medical devices. The field may be very different from what is traditionally considered a creative industry, but the fundamental energy, drive, motivation, dreaming, aspiration, belief, and resilience are the same.
In The Essence of Invention, Dr. Murphy celebrates the creative energy of courageous men and women who changed the world through medical science. He honours their unique gifts, and explains how a culture of creativity and collaboration can and must be established around them to allow their talents to take flight.
The Essence of Invention tells the story of medical invention, from the development of anesthesia and safe surgery, through to the advent of vaccines against smallpox, polio, and Covid-19, that have changed the very foundation of patient care. Dr. Kieran Murphy, a renowned neuroradiologist and inventor in his own right, captures the mind of the inventor — their turmoil, their persistence, their rejection by their peers — and how a small percentage are eventually recognized.
The same kind of energy that drove van Gogh or the Beatles can manifest in medicine as inventiveness and the creation of new medical devices. The field may be very different from what is traditionally considered a creative industry, but the fundamental energy, drive, motivation, dreaming, aspiration, belief, and resilience are the same.
In The Essence of Invention, Dr. Murphy celebrates the creative energy of courageous men and women who changed the world through medical science. He honours their unique gifts, and explains how a culture of creativity and collaboration can and must be established around them to allow their talents to take flight.
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- Pages
- 296
- Published in
- Toronto, CA
Table of Contents
- Cover 10
- Halftitle 10
- Title 10
- Copyright 6
- Dedication 6
- A Note from the Author and Reading Prompts 11
- Introduction 13
- Section 1: The Innovation Equation 27
- 1: The Equation 29
- 2: The Inventor 33
- 3: Where Are All the Women Inventors in This Book? 53
- 4: Funding 63
- 5: Cultural Alignment 73
- 6: Timing 83
- Section 2: The Genealogy of Ideas 91
- 7: Recombination 93
- 8: Banting — Warrior Researcher and the Discovery of Insulin 99
- 9: The Birth of Angiography 105
- 10: Angiography Evolves 113
- 11: Stenting 125
- Section 3: The Business of Invention 133
- 12: Aha Moments in the Bath, and the Importance of the Flow State 135
- 13: The Pressure of Business 145
- 14: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms 155
- Section 4: Great Medical Inventions 163
- 15: Antisepsis: From Pasteur to Semmelweis, Lister, Halsted, and Fleming 167
- 16: The Pioneers of Anaesthesia: Priestley, Davy, Morton, Simpson, Snow, Koller, Corning, Cushing, and Codman 173
- 17: William Osler, Pathology, and Preservatives 181
- 18: Hospital Design and Technology: Buildings, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Ventilation 187
- 19: Vision and Cataract Surgery 197
- 20: Transplantation: Barnard, the Matinee Idol; Starzl, the Craftsman; and DeBakey, the Technocrat 203
- 21: Laparoscopic Surgery 215
- 22: The Heart Is So Much More Than a Pump: Pacemakers, Hill, and Booth 225
- 23: Vaccines — From Mundane to Covid- 19: Jenner, Haffkine, and Karikó 231
- Section 5: Age and Creativity 237
- 24: The Engaged Life 239
- 25: An Ode to Duty 245
- Conclusion 249
- Acknowledgements 253
- Appendix: Books That Influenced Me in the Writing of This Work 255
- Notes 263
- Bibliography 271
- Image Credits 281
- Index 283
- About the Author 295
