Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for A Heart Afire by Patricia Meisol - Available

A Heart Afire

by Patricia Meisol
ebook
Read a sample Read a sample
A deeply compelling biography of the pioneering children’s heart doctor Helen Taussig, who helped start heart surgery and became a global force against preventable suffering.
In A Heart Afire, Patricia Meisol renders a moving portrait of the indomitable pediatrician and global patient activist Helen Taussig (1898–1986), who famously gathered and publicized evidence linking thalidomide to birth defects, leading to US drug safety laws. Taussig also developed the Blalock-Taussig shunt (along with Alfred Blalock) for infants with congenital heart defects. Spanning Taussig’s childhood in Boston, her struggle with dyslexia, her progressive hearing loss, her research contributions, and the founding of her own fledgling children’s heart clinic, this book chronicles Taussig’s ambition, tenacity, and formidable work ethic. As Meisol shows, Taussig not only saved lives, but also set a bold precedent for other women doctors in the twentieth century, who were largely excluded from medicine.
Meticulously researched and intimately told, A Heart Afire is unique in its use of a fifty-year-long campaign by Taussig’s followers for a worthy memorial portrait and shows how views of women doctors have evolved. Meisol reveals Taussig as an authentic American hero, one who embodies the Emersonian ethic of developing oneself, following the processes of nature, and serving the public. A fiercely independent thinker, Taussig infused herself and her ideas into the medical culture, paving the way not only for other professional women but also for patients then and now to advocate for themselves. Offering an indispensable look at health care as a universal human right, A Heart Afire is a beacon and a blueprint for creating a more just and compassionate world of medicine.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 12, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780262380713

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780262380713
      • File size: 892 KB

  • Accessibility

  • Languages

    • English

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English