King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery [Kindle Edition]
Author: G. Wayne Miller | Language: English | ISBN: B0037BS33A | Format: PDF, EPUB
King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery
Download for free books King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery for everyone book 4shared, mediafire, hotfile, and mirror link Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life.
This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat: He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine.
Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.
From the Hardcover edition. Direct download links available for King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery
Download for free books King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery for everyone book 4shared, mediafire, hotfile, and mirror link Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life.
This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat: He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine.
Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.
From the Hardcover edition. Direct download links available for King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery
- File Size: 904 KB
- Print Length: 322 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0609807242
- Publisher: Crown; 1 edition (February 10, 2010)
- Sold by: Random House LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B0037BS33A
- Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,379 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #60 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Medical eBooks > Internal Medicine > Cardiology
- #87 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Medical eBooks > Specialties > Surgery
- #90 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Medical eBooks > Special Topics > History
Dr. Walter Lillehei's last name is atually easy to pronounce. When reading G. Wayne Miller's newest non-fiction thriller, "The King of Hearts," just read his name as 'Lilla - High.' Almost like the name of a high school . . . Lilla High.
But Miller's quest for the truth about 'Lilla High" turns into a reader's quest for the true story about the almost unbelievable account of how heart surgery began on this planet. Most of us remember or have heard about the Dr. Christiaan Barnards's headlining heart transplant in 1967. Maybe the recipient's name - Louis Washkansky- would be a good trivia question on 'Who Want's to be a Millionaire?' or 'Jeopardy.' But it might be better to learn about or remember the name of this maveric medical pioneer by the name of Dr. Walt Lillehei (prounounced like the high school!) who began the heart surgery revolution.
This book is a suspensiful portrait of a fascinating man and his incredible determination, at any cost, to forge ahead where no doctor had before. We take for granted that our relative, friend, neighbor, even ourselves! can now go through a simple open heart surgery procedure and recover gracefully to enjoy a long life. But do you remember history just 30 or 40 years ago when heart disease at any age meant almost instant death? Do you know how many children just died from what we know demand from doctors to routinely fix?
G.Wayne Miller answered so many questions for us through an amazing eight year project which is now titled "King of Hearts." Miller's project has become this 245 pages of reading that one WANTS to read all at once.
"King of Hearts" is an engaging adventure into the world of heart repair 50 years ago. Mr. Miller tells the story of Walt Lilihei, one of the pioneers of open-heart surgery, with spirit, accuracy and compassion. He is ever sensitive to both the goals that Dr. Lilihei had and the lives that were lost in the process. Instead of viewing these lives as just statistics, we see how they were people, loved and valued by their families, who had no alternative but to try surgery. Their deaths are respected and honored, as they went before the world knew what it knows now about open-heart surgery. But they were instrumental, as was Dr. Lilihei in teaching the world what it knows now about repairing the heart.
Although some stay away from biographies, "King of Hearts" stands alone. It is a fast-paced, exciting exploration of one man's search to radically alter the surgical options for heart disease. Once one picks up this book, it is difficult to put down. I confess to reading it straight through the moment I received it. The reader wants so very much for Dr. Lilihei to triumph, to find a way to save his patients. And Mr. Miller's style of writing is enough to keep any reader engaged. He writes with energy and with a no-nonsense portrayal of this great man. He skillfully avoids the overtly technical and instead writes for the layman reader, though I have no doubt that those in the medical field will also enjoy reading the story behind the facts they learned about Walt Lilihei.
I am reminded of Grisham and Turow in the reading of this text, yet Miller stands quite by himself as well, marking out an aggressive and fast-paced style of writing which tells both the facts and the emotions but never dips into pathos or excessive sentimentality.
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