Genius Belabored: Childbed Fever and the Tragic Life of Ignaz Semmelweis
Genius Belabored: Childbed Fever and the Tragic Life of Ignaz Semmelweis
The fascinating story of Ignaz Semmelweis, a nineteenth-century obstetrician ostracized for his strident advocacy of disinfection as a way to prevent childbed fever
In Genius Belabored: Childbed Fever and the Tragic Life of Ignaz Semmelweis, Theodore G. Obenchain traces the life story of a nineteenth-century Hungarian obstetrician who was shunned and marginalized by the medical establishment for advancing a far-sighted but unorthodox solution to the appalling mortality rates that plagued new mothers of the day.
In engrossing detail, Obenchain recreates for readers the sights, smells, and activities within a hospital of that day. In an era before the acceptance of modern germ science, physicians saw little need for cleanliness or hygiene. As a consequence, antiseptic measures were lax and rudimentary. Especially vulnerable to contamination were new mothers, who frequently contracted and died from childbed fever (puerperal fever). Genius Belabored follows Semmelweis’s awakening to the insight that many of these deaths could be avoided with basic antiseptic measures like hand washing.
Book Collections
Author's Book Published
Genius Belabored
The Victorian Vivisection Debate
From Darkness To Sunrise
Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever
Testimonial
What They Say
I've read several biographies of Dr. Semmelweis as part of my research for a novel I'm writing about childbed fever. I found this biography to be the most definitive resource for my needs. Anyone wanting to know more about Dr. Semmelweis should start with this one.
This is an historical account of the story of Dr. Semmelweis, who spent years dealing with effects of a theory of infection and the need for sterilization without being able to fully articulate the theory and draw out its implications for practice.
A carefully written, authoritative and exhaustively researched work by a retired Neurologist, summarizing not only the life and work of Semmelweis but additionally providing a medically grounded insight into some of the purported causes of his mental illness and death.
I know the author, worked with him at a a local hospital when he was a fantastic nuerosurgeon. I can't wait for his next book.because he is as good a writer as he was neurosurgeon.
I was modestly interested in the ethics of animal experimentation when I started this book and there is a lot here for readers who have this interest. What made this book so great for me was it's depiction of the birth of modern medicine in the mid to late 1800's.
Obenchain's account of Semmelweis's career is highly enjoyable. Its medical detail is impressive and exceeds that other account of the doctor's life. Obenchain's argument that Semmelweis suffered from bipolar disorder is original, and no other work has supported the hypothesis of Semmelweis's mental illness so thoroughly.
I know the author, worked with him at a a local hospital when he was a fantastic nuerosurgeon. I can't wait for his next book.because he is as good a writer as he was neurosurgeon.
I was modestly interested in the ethics of animal experimentation when I started this book and there is a lot here for readers who have this interest. What made this book so great for me was it's depiction of the birth of modern medicine in the mid to late 1800's.
From DARKNESS to SUNRISE is a very well written and unique use of the combination of a fictional character's story combined with historical facts and science. It was extremely interesting that the character took the role of the author as the researcher and reviewer of the historical data and science that was described.
Obenchain's account of Semmelweis's career is highly enjoyable. Its medical detail is impressive and exceeds that other account of the doctor's life. Obenchain's argument that Semmelweis suffered from bipolar disorder is original, and no other work has supported the hypothesis of Semmelweis's mental illness so thoroughly.
