The Second History of Man
History of Man Series, Book 2
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Second History of Man
Buy for $29.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Fox Bershof
-
By:
-
John Bershof MD
About this listen
To paraphrase the great sci-fi writer Stephen King: Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your heart, kill your darlings. Translation: stay on point and mercilessly avoid side stories and anecdotes. With much respect for Mr. King, The History of Man Series is precisely that, a great deal about all those little darlings, a style of writing termed “jumping off.”
The Second History of Man focuses mostly on bacteria and bacterial infections as the foundation, jumping off into Darwin and evolution, gin and tonics and the discovery of the first antibiotic to treat infection (and it wasn’t penicillin), and visiting with those clever chaps who cook up drugs in the lab. We’ll call upon poets and poetry, celebrities like Frank Sinatra, the Rat Pack, and Bobby Darin, the classical music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, the tragic story of World War II, Anne Frank and the Holocaust, tuberculosis, and a few of the rich and famous who suffered from TB, traveling back in time to the Black Death (which wiped out 25 percent of humans on Earth), exploring the origins of a salon and a saloon, Columbus and the Age of Discovery, the lost generations of childhood, ending with the invention of the Internet.
The History of Man Series is written in a jumping off style, using medicine, disease, and health themes, fleeced of the normal jargon that all too often accompanies science narratives, as the foundation to jump off into history, world history, human history, American history, ancient history, biographies, celebrities and the rich and famous, the body, aging and longevity, science, biology and nature, physics, even some math thrown in, anatomy, a travel book of geology, geography, continents, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, South America, Australia, even the North Pole and South Pole, astronomy, the universe and cosmos, war, politics, nature, art, music, romance, folklore, religion, the Bible, mythology, sports and athletes, weather, climate change and global warming, and maybe even some non-prescriptive self-help commentaries tossed in for good measure. And to add yet another twist to the writing style, another layer, each book showcases some personal anecdotes Dr. Bershof experienced during his life in medicine, a few biography sketches of suspense and thrillers that reveal a glimpse how the mind of a doctor works...or doesn’t work.
We’ll cherish all the darlings we encounter on our travels as they tell the tale of the humanity that remains eternal in all of us, in all its splendor and all its tragedy. All human activity and that of the Universe lies within our scope. Unlike Bryson’s wonderful book A Shorty History of Nearly Everything, a must-listen, this series makes no apologies for being a tome about nearly everything.
©2021 John Fox Bershof (P)2021 John Fox BershofListeners also enjoyed...
-
The First History of Man
- By: John Fox Bershof MD
- Narrated by: John Bershof MD
- Length: 24 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
The First History of Man uses infection in general—bacteria, viruses, fungus, parasites, epidemics & pandemics, COVID-19—to lay the foundation for the next five books, narratives and stories that delve deeper into human infectious diseases. This first volume jumps off into accounts of the Big Bang Theory—the real one, but also the sitcom—the origin of the Universe, from atoms to DNA to us and how exactly it happened.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
If you want something unlike other books you've read.
- By Amazon Customer on 01-29-23
-
Lifespan
- Why We Age - and Why We Don't Have To
- By: David A. Sinclair PhD, Matthew D. LaPlante
- Narrated by: David A. Sinclair PhD
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,401
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,320
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,286
From an acclaimed Harvard professor and one of Time’s most influential people, this paradigm-shifting audiobook shows how almost everything we think we know about aging is wrong, offers a front-row seat to the amazing global effort to slow, stop, and reverse aging, and calls listeners to consider a future where aging can be treated.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible
- By Nikolai B.G on 09-13-19
By: David A. Sinclair PhD, and others
-
Immune
- A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive
- By: Philipp Dettmer
- Narrated by: Steve Taylor
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,254
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,075
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,068
You wake up and feel a tickle in your throat. Your head hurts. You’re mildly annoyed as you get the kids ready for school and dress for work yourself. Meanwhile, an epic war is being fought, just below your skin. Millions are fighting and dying for you to be able to complain as you head out the door. So what, exactly, is your immune system? In Immune, Philipp Dettmer, the brains behind the most popular science channel on YouTube, takes listeners on a journey through the fortress of the human body and its defenses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Steve Taylor for the win
- By Bay Area Engineer on 11-02-21
By: Philipp Dettmer
-
The Body
- A Guide for Occupants
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,757
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,685
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,639
Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body - how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must Read for the Sheer Fun of It
- By J.B. on 10-16-19
By: Bill Bryson
-
Vital Organs
- By: Suzie Edge
- Narrated by: Suzie Edge
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 99
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 92
The remarkable stories of the world's most famous body parts. All too often, historical figures feel distant and abstract; more myth and legend than real flesh and blood. These stories of bodies and its parts remind us that history's most-loved, and most-hated, were real breathing creatures who inhabited organs and limbs just like us - until they're cut off that is. Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge investigates over 40 cases of how we've used, abused, dug up, displayed, experimented on, and worshipped body parts.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, Educational, and Occasionally Funny
- By Tricia A. Hamblin on 01-08-24
By: Suzie Edge
-
Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,890
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,233
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,215
Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engrossing to physicians & lay persons alike
- By C. White on 03-08-19
By: Thomas Hager
-
The First History of Man
- By: John Fox Bershof MD
- Narrated by: John Bershof MD
- Length: 24 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
The First History of Man uses infection in general—bacteria, viruses, fungus, parasites, epidemics & pandemics, COVID-19—to lay the foundation for the next five books, narratives and stories that delve deeper into human infectious diseases. This first volume jumps off into accounts of the Big Bang Theory—the real one, but also the sitcom—the origin of the Universe, from atoms to DNA to us and how exactly it happened.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
If you want something unlike other books you've read.
- By Amazon Customer on 01-29-23
-
Lifespan
- Why We Age - and Why We Don't Have To
- By: David A. Sinclair PhD, Matthew D. LaPlante
- Narrated by: David A. Sinclair PhD
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,401
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,320
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,286
From an acclaimed Harvard professor and one of Time’s most influential people, this paradigm-shifting audiobook shows how almost everything we think we know about aging is wrong, offers a front-row seat to the amazing global effort to slow, stop, and reverse aging, and calls listeners to consider a future where aging can be treated.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible
- By Nikolai B.G on 09-13-19
By: David A. Sinclair PhD, and others
-
Immune
- A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive
- By: Philipp Dettmer
- Narrated by: Steve Taylor
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,254
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,075
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,068
You wake up and feel a tickle in your throat. Your head hurts. You’re mildly annoyed as you get the kids ready for school and dress for work yourself. Meanwhile, an epic war is being fought, just below your skin. Millions are fighting and dying for you to be able to complain as you head out the door. So what, exactly, is your immune system? In Immune, Philipp Dettmer, the brains behind the most popular science channel on YouTube, takes listeners on a journey through the fortress of the human body and its defenses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Steve Taylor for the win
- By Bay Area Engineer on 11-02-21
By: Philipp Dettmer
-
The Body
- A Guide for Occupants
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,757
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,685
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,639
Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body - how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must Read for the Sheer Fun of It
- By J.B. on 10-16-19
By: Bill Bryson
-
Vital Organs
- By: Suzie Edge
- Narrated by: Suzie Edge
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 99
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 92
The remarkable stories of the world's most famous body parts. All too often, historical figures feel distant and abstract; more myth and legend than real flesh and blood. These stories of bodies and its parts remind us that history's most-loved, and most-hated, were real breathing creatures who inhabited organs and limbs just like us - until they're cut off that is. Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge investigates over 40 cases of how we've used, abused, dug up, displayed, experimented on, and worshipped body parts.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, Educational, and Occasionally Funny
- By Tricia A. Hamblin on 01-08-24
By: Suzie Edge
-
Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,890
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,233
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,215
Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engrossing to physicians & lay persons alike
- By C. White on 03-08-19
By: Thomas Hager
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 843
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 715
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 709
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
Human Errors
- A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes
- By: Nathan H. Lents
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,267
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,994
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,989
We humans like to think of ourselves as highly evolved creatures. But if we are supposedly evolution's greatest creation, why do we have such bad knees? Why do we catch head colds so often - 200 times more often than a dog does? How come our wrists have so many useless bones? And are we really supposed to swallow and breathe through the same narrow tube? Surely there's been some kind of mistake. As professor of biology Nathan H. Lents explains in Human Errors, our evolutionary history is nothing if not a litany of mistakes, each more entertaining and enlightening than the last.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
From Pointless Bones to Broken Genes to...Aliens?
- By Katy.LED on 12-04-18
By: Nathan H. Lents
-
Dissolving Illusions
- By: Suzanne Humphries, Roman Bystrianyk
- Narrated by: Tyler Behnke
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 380
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 335
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 334
Today, we are told that medical interventions increased our lifespan and single-handedly prevented masses of deaths. But is this really true? Dissolving Illusions details facts and figures from long-overlooked medical journals, books, newspapers, and other sources. Using myth-shattering information, this book shows that vaccines, antibiotics, and other medical interventions are not responsible for the increase in lifespan and the decline in mortality from infectious diseases.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
mind blowing and life changing
- By Rachel on 06-26-21
By: Suzanne Humphries, and others
-
The Sawbones Book
- The Horrifying, Hilarious Road to Modern Medicine
- By: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Narrated by: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,863
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,684
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,672
Wondering whether eating powdered mummies might be just the thing to cure your ills? Tempted by those vintage ads suggesting you wear radioactive underpants for virility? Ever considered drilling a hole in your head to deal with those pesky headaches? Probably not. But for thousands of years, people have done things like this - and things that make radioactive underpants seem downright sensible! In their hit podcast, Sawbones, Sydnee and Justin McElroy breakdown the weird and wonderful way we got to modern healthcare. And some of the terrifying detours along the way.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Close but no cigar . . .
- By Amanda Buffkin on 12-22-18
By: Justin McElroy, and others
-
The Spark in the Machine
- How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine
- By: Daniel Keown
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 121
Why can salamanders grow new legs, and young children grow new fingertips, but adult humans can't regenerate? What is the electricity that flows through the human body? Is it the same thing that the Chinese call Qi? If so, what does Chinese medicine know that Western medicine ignores? Dan Keown's highly accessible, witty, and original book shows how Western medicine validates the theories of Chinese medicine and how Chinese medicine explains the mysteries of the body that Western medicine largely ignores.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What a great book.
- By J. R. on 09-06-24
By: Daniel Keown
-
The Drug Hunters
- The Improbable Quest to Discover New Medicines
- By: Donald R. Kirsch PhD, Ogi Ogas PhD
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,177
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,067
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,066
The search to find medicines is as old as disease, which is to say as old as the human race. Through serendipity - by chewing, brewing, and snorting - some Neolithic souls discovered opium, alcohol, snakeroot, juniper, frankincense, and other helpful substances. Ötzi the Iceman, the 5,000-year-old hunter frozen in the Italian Alps, was found to have whipworms in his intestines and Bronze Age medicine, a worm-killing birch fungus, knotted to his leggings.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Aargh!
- By Curmud the prof on 05-20-17
By: Donald R. Kirsch PhD, and others
-
Heart
- A History
- By: Sandeep Jauhar
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 571
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 504
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 506
For centuries, the human heart seemed beyond our understanding: an inscrutable shuddering mass that was somehow the driver of emotion and the seat of the soul. As cardiologist and best-selling author Sandeep Jauhar tells in The Heart, it was only recently that we demolished age-old taboos and devised the transformative procedures that changed the way we live. Deftly alternating between historical episodes and his own work, Jauhar tells the colorful and little known story of the doctors who risked their careers and the patients who risked their lives to know and heal our most vital organ.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Insight
- By Ironcharles on 10-27-18
By: Sandeep Jauhar
-
Diagnosis
- Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries
- By: Lisa Sanders
- Narrated by: Lisa Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 538
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 470
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 465
As a Yale School of Medicine physician, the New York Times best-selling author of Every Patient Tells a Story, and an inspiration and adviser for the hit Fox TV drama, House, M.D., Lisa Sanders has seen it all. And yet, she is often confounded by the cases she describes in her column: unexpected collections of symptoms that she and other physicians struggle to diagnose. Dr. Sanders shows how making the right diagnosis requires expertise, painstaking procedure, and sometimes a little luck.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Repetitive from her previous work
- By anon on 03-08-21
By: Lisa Sanders
-
The Iodine Crisis
- What You Don’t Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life
- By: Lynne Farrow, David Brownstein MD - foreword
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 351
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 313
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 312
Thanks to environmental pollutants, iodine deficiency has become a worldwide epidemic. Everybody knows pollutants cause cancer. What they don't know is that these pollutants cause a deficiency that can make us sick, fat, and stupid. Iodized salt - supposedly a solution to iodine deficiency - is actually a nutritional scam that provides a false sense of security. The Iodine Crisis explains how we became so deficient, then shows the time-tested solution to reversing many conditions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just Cured my Asthma with Iodine after listening
- By David R. on 03-05-21
By: Lynne Farrow, and others
-
The Special Forces Handbook of Medical Secrets
- By: James Li
- Narrated by: mike ortego
- Length: 2 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Going well beyond first aid, this manual describes medical secrets used by an experienced African mission doctor and former assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School. The tips are pragmatic, affordable, and useful for anyone from medics to laypersons but are particularly aimed at people who work and live in remote areas with scarce resources. The subjects cover antibiotic therapy, advanced care of complex wounds, laceration closure with glue, malaria, oral rehydration therapy, fecal transplantation, and more.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The audiobook is well done; flows smoothly!
- By Midwestbonsai on 10-18-17
By: James Li
-
Survival of the Sickest
- A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
- By: Sharon Moalem, Jonathan Prince
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 640
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 414
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 413
How did a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? Will a visit to the tanning salon help bring down your cholesterol? Why do we age? Why are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on or off? Survival of the Sickest reveals the answers to these and many other questions as it unravels the amazing connections between evolution, disease, and human health today.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Human evolution
- By Dalton on 05-17-07
By: Sharon Moalem, and others
-
Patient Zero
- A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases
- By: Lydia Kang MD, Nate Pedersen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
From the masters of storytelling-meets-science, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us. Written in the authors’ lively style, chapters include gripping medical stories about a particular disease or virus—smallpox, Bubonic plague, polio, HIV—that combine “Patient Zero” narratives, or the human stories behind outbreaks, with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Can’t listen to the reader
- By Doug Clyde on 07-21-22
By: Lydia Kang MD, and others
Related to this topic
-
Plagues, Pandemics and Viruses
- From the Plague of Athens to COVID-19
- By: Heather E. Quinlan
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
It can come in waves - like tidal waves. It changes societies. It disrupts life. It ends lives. As far back as 3000 B.C.E. (the Bronze Age), plagues have stricken mankind. COVID-19 is just the latest example, but history shows that life continues. It shows that knowledge and social cooperation can save lives. Viruses are neither alive nor dead and are the closest thing we have to zombies. Their only known function is to replicate themselves, which can have devastating consequences on their hosts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Somewhat elemental
- By Bertha Watkins on 10-23-21
-
Quackery
- A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
- By: Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 974
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 844
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 844
What won't we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine - yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison - was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Computer-generated Narrator. Dated Humour.
- By Nemo on 12-28-18
By: Lydia Kang, and others
-
The Sawbones Book
- The Horrifying, Hilarious Road to Modern Medicine
- By: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Narrated by: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,863
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,684
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,672
Wondering whether eating powdered mummies might be just the thing to cure your ills? Tempted by those vintage ads suggesting you wear radioactive underpants for virility? Ever considered drilling a hole in your head to deal with those pesky headaches? Probably not. But for thousands of years, people have done things like this - and things that make radioactive underpants seem downright sensible! In their hit podcast, Sawbones, Sydnee and Justin McElroy breakdown the weird and wonderful way we got to modern healthcare. And some of the terrifying detours along the way.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Close but no cigar . . .
- By Amanda Buffkin on 12-22-18
By: Justin McElroy, and others
-
Missing Microbes
- How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
- By: Martin J. Blaser
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 324
In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now this invisible eden is being irrevocably damaged by some of our most revered medical advances-antibiotics-threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes with terrible health consequences.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very enlightening and information well supported
- By James on 05-03-15
By: Martin J. Blaser
-
State of the Heart
- Exploring the History, Science, and Future of Cardiac Disease
- By: Haider Warraich
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
In State of the Heart, the journey to rid the world of heart disease is shown to be reflective of the journey of medical science at large. We are learning not only that women have as much heart disease as men, but that the type of heart disease women experience is diametrically different from that in men. We are learning that heart disease and cancer may have more in common than we could have imagined. And we are learning how human evolution itself may have led to the epidemic of heart disease
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good information, bad organization
- By Conor Cox on 09-03-19
By: Haider Warraich
-
Under the Knife
- A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations
- By: Arnold van de Laar, Andy Brown - translator
- Narrated by: Rich Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 223
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
From the story of the desperate man from 17th-century Amsterdam who grimly cut a stone out of his own bladder to Bob Marley's deadly toe, Under the Knife offers a wealth of fascinating and unforgettable insights into medicine and history via the operating room. What happens during an operation? How does the human body respond to being attacked by a knife, a bacterium, a cancer cell, or a bullet? And, as medical advances continuously push the boundaries of what medicine can cure, what are the limits of surgery?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Why did a surgeon need a fast horse?
- By India Clamp on 10-18-18
By: Arnold van de Laar, and others
-
Plagues, Pandemics and Viruses
- From the Plague of Athens to COVID-19
- By: Heather E. Quinlan
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
It can come in waves - like tidal waves. It changes societies. It disrupts life. It ends lives. As far back as 3000 B.C.E. (the Bronze Age), plagues have stricken mankind. COVID-19 is just the latest example, but history shows that life continues. It shows that knowledge and social cooperation can save lives. Viruses are neither alive nor dead and are the closest thing we have to zombies. Their only known function is to replicate themselves, which can have devastating consequences on their hosts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Somewhat elemental
- By Bertha Watkins on 10-23-21
-
Quackery
- A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
- By: Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 974
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 844
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 844
What won't we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine - yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison - was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Computer-generated Narrator. Dated Humour.
- By Nemo on 12-28-18
By: Lydia Kang, and others
-
The Sawbones Book
- The Horrifying, Hilarious Road to Modern Medicine
- By: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Narrated by: Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,863
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,684
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,672
Wondering whether eating powdered mummies might be just the thing to cure your ills? Tempted by those vintage ads suggesting you wear radioactive underpants for virility? Ever considered drilling a hole in your head to deal with those pesky headaches? Probably not. But for thousands of years, people have done things like this - and things that make radioactive underpants seem downright sensible! In their hit podcast, Sawbones, Sydnee and Justin McElroy breakdown the weird and wonderful way we got to modern healthcare. And some of the terrifying detours along the way.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Close but no cigar . . .
- By Amanda Buffkin on 12-22-18
By: Justin McElroy, and others
-
Missing Microbes
- How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
- By: Martin J. Blaser
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 324
In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now this invisible eden is being irrevocably damaged by some of our most revered medical advances-antibiotics-threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes with terrible health consequences.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very enlightening and information well supported
- By James on 05-03-15
By: Martin J. Blaser
-
State of the Heart
- Exploring the History, Science, and Future of Cardiac Disease
- By: Haider Warraich
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
In State of the Heart, the journey to rid the world of heart disease is shown to be reflective of the journey of medical science at large. We are learning not only that women have as much heart disease as men, but that the type of heart disease women experience is diametrically different from that in men. We are learning that heart disease and cancer may have more in common than we could have imagined. And we are learning how human evolution itself may have led to the epidemic of heart disease
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good information, bad organization
- By Conor Cox on 09-03-19
By: Haider Warraich
-
Under the Knife
- A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations
- By: Arnold van de Laar, Andy Brown - translator
- Narrated by: Rich Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 223
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
From the story of the desperate man from 17th-century Amsterdam who grimly cut a stone out of his own bladder to Bob Marley's deadly toe, Under the Knife offers a wealth of fascinating and unforgettable insights into medicine and history via the operating room. What happens during an operation? How does the human body respond to being attacked by a knife, a bacterium, a cancer cell, or a bullet? And, as medical advances continuously push the boundaries of what medicine can cure, what are the limits of surgery?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Why did a surgeon need a fast horse?
- By India Clamp on 10-18-18
By: Arnold van de Laar, and others
-
Chronic
- The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again
- By: Steven Phillips MD, Dana Parish, Kristin Loberg
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt, Thomas Allen
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
In this timely book, Steven Phillips, MD, and his former patient, Sony singer-songwriter Dana Parish, reveal striking evidence that a broad range of common infections, from COVID-19 to Lyme and many others, cause a variety of autoimmune, psychiatric, and chronic conditions. Chronic explores the science behind what makes them difficult to diagnose and treat, debunks widely held beliefs by doctors and patients alike, and provides solutions that empower sufferers to reclaim their lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must read book
- By Amazon Customer on 03-01-21
By: Steven Phillips MD, and others
-
Poisons
- From Hemlock to Botox and the Killer Bean Calabar
- By: Peter Macinnis
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 70
A wide-ranging and provocative look - teeming with little-known facts and engaging stories - at a subject of the direst interest. Poisons permeate our world. They are in the environment, the workplace, the home. They are in food, our favorite whiskey, medicine, well water. They have been used to cure disease as well as incapacitate and kill. They smooth wrinkles, block pain, stimulate, and enhance athletic ability. In this entertaining and fact-filled audiobook, science writer Peter Macinnis considers poisons in all their aspects. He recounts stories of the celebrated poisoners in history and literature....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
#MyNonFictionAddiction
- By IsleWait on 11-07-19
By: Peter Macinnis
-
The Moth in the Iron Lung
- A Biography of Polio
- By: Forrest Maready
- Narrated by: Forrest Maready
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 489
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 430
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 428
A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease - polio - told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere. Doctors, parents, and health officials were at a loss to explain why this formerly unheard-of disease began paralyzing so many children. Why did this disease start to become such a horrible problem during the late 1800s? Why did it affect children more often than adults? Why was it originally called teething paralysis by mothers and their doctors?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Root Cause
- By Circlekay1 Gulfport MS on 10-24-19
By: Forrest Maready
-
10% Human
- How Your Body's Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness
- By: Alanna Collen
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
You are just 10% human. For every one of the cells that make up the vessel that you call your body, there are nine impostor cells hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and blood, muscle and bone, brain and skin, but also bacteria and fungi. Over your lifetime, you will carry the equivalent weight of five African elephants in microbes. You are not an individual but a colony. Until recently, we had thought our microbes hardly mattered, but science is revealing a different story, one in which microbes run our bodies and becoming a healthy human is impossible without them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must read for anyone that wants to be healthy
- By T. Kalinowski on 06-05-21
By: Alanna Collen
-
The Invention of Surgery
- A History of Modern Medicine: From the Renaissance to the Implant Revolution
- By: David Schneider MD
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Written by an author with plenty of experience holding a scalpel, Dr. David Schneider's in-depth biography is an encompassing history of the practice that has leapt forward over the centuries from the dangerous guesswork of ancient Greek physicians through the world-changing implant revolution of the 20th century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Yup, this is the one you’re looking for...
- By richard clark on 07-19-20
-
Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,890
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,233
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,215
Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engrossing to physicians & lay persons alike
- By C. White on 03-08-19
By: Thomas Hager
-
The Second Book of General Ignorance
- Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong
- By: John Lloyd, John Mitchinson
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
Just when you thought that it was safe to start showing off again, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are back with another busload of mistakes and misunderstandings. Here is a new collection of simple, perfectly obvious questions you'll be quite certain you know the answers to. Whether it's history, science, sports, geography, literature, language, medicine, the classics, or common wisdom, you'll be astonished to discover that everything you thought you knew is still hopelessly wrong.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
It's all stuff from QI
- By Bonnie Kennedy on 04-07-21
By: John Lloyd, and others
-
Heart
- A History
- By: Sandeep Jauhar
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 571
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 504
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 506
For centuries, the human heart seemed beyond our understanding: an inscrutable shuddering mass that was somehow the driver of emotion and the seat of the soul. As cardiologist and best-selling author Sandeep Jauhar tells in The Heart, it was only recently that we demolished age-old taboos and devised the transformative procedures that changed the way we live. Deftly alternating between historical episodes and his own work, Jauhar tells the colorful and little known story of the doctors who risked their careers and the patients who risked their lives to know and heal our most vital organ.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Insight
- By Ironcharles on 10-27-18
By: Sandeep Jauhar
-
Human Errors
- A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes
- By: Nathan H. Lents
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,267
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,994
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,989
We humans like to think of ourselves as highly evolved creatures. But if we are supposedly evolution's greatest creation, why do we have such bad knees? Why do we catch head colds so often - 200 times more often than a dog does? How come our wrists have so many useless bones? And are we really supposed to swallow and breathe through the same narrow tube? Surely there's been some kind of mistake. As professor of biology Nathan H. Lents explains in Human Errors, our evolutionary history is nothing if not a litany of mistakes, each more entertaining and enlightening than the last.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
From Pointless Bones to Broken Genes to...Aliens?
- By Katy.LED on 12-04-18
By: Nathan H. Lents
-
Blood and Guts
- A History of Surgery
- By: Richard Hollingham
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 60
Today, astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making limb transplants, face transplants, and a host of other previously undreamed-of operations possible. But getting here has not been a simple story of medical progress. In Blood and Guts, veteran science writer Richard Hollingham weaves a compelling narrative from the key moments in surgical history. We have a ringside seat in the operating theater of University College Hospital in London as world-renowned Victorian surgeon Robert Liston performs a remarkable amputation in 30 seconds - from first cut to final stitch.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I love this book!
- By Kristin on 08-25-19
-
Happy Accidents
- Serendipity in Major Medical Breakthroughs in the Twentieth Century
- By: Morton A. Meyers
- Narrated by: Richard Waterhouse
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Happy Accidents is a fascinating, entertaining, and highly accessible look at the surprising role serendipity has played in some of the most important medical discoveries in the 20th century. What do penicillin, chemotherapy drugs, X-rays, Valium, the Pap smear, and Viagra have in common? They were each discovered accidentally, stumbled upon in the search for something else. In discussing medical breakthroughs, Dr. Morton Meyers makes a cogent, highly engaging argument for a more creative, rather than purely linear, approach to science. And it may just save our lives!
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Don't waste your money!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-20-16
By: Morton A. Meyers
-
The Cancer Chronicles
- Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery
- By: George Johnson
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, science writer George Johnson embarked on a journey to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who dedicate their lives to understanding and combating it. What he discovered is a revolution under way - an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from. In a provocative and intellectually vibrant exploration, he takes us on an adventure through the history and recent advances of cancer research that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the disease.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A quick read - hard to put down
- By Digital Dilema on 09-06-13
By: George Johnson
What listeners say about The Second History of Man
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-29-23
Unique Read
I’m the sort of person who likes documentaries and interesting facts. Reading this book you definitely learn a lot of interesting facts. It’s like reading a novel and National Geographic all at the same time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!