Reviews for Leukocyte Depletion in Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology

The average rating for Leukocyte Depletion in Cardiac Surgery and Cardiology based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-10-10 00:00:00 Bret Barnier Judging by his previous work, Hellman is more of a science historian than a medical historian, and a few of the examples he chose for this book are only peripherally medical. Most of the subjects and concepts are common knowledge, and Hellman adds detail but not liveliness. He frequently strays from the feuds the title claims the book is about and goes so far as to critique the book reviews about histories about his subjects. A clear believer in the Great Man theory of history, any historian or source who suggests that Hellman's pet scientist idols were less than perfect is dismissed as 'revisionist'. Dripping with forced metaphors and clumsy hyperbole, Hellman has at least three scientists of the 1800's making "the understatement of the century." I put it down for good when he started repeating himself in adjacent paragraphs.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-12-16 00:00:00 James Coffey I liked this one more than the math feuds, possibly because it was less technical, but also because I hadn't already read most of it. Half of the "feuds" though aren't one to one standoffs but one man's theory struggling against the current medical advice. Lots of interesting controversies, however, my favorite was the tragedy of Rosalind Franklin being lost of the history of science in favor of Watson, Crick, and Wilkins, simply because men found her frank nature harsh in a woman. And we owe much to the little known Semmelweis whose ideas about sanitation would have saved many more lives if they had been taken seriously before Pasteur promoted them many years later.