Table Of ContentBreakthrough!
How the 10 Greatest Discoveries in Medicine
Saved Millions and
Changed Our View of the World
Jon Queijo
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Printed in the United States of America
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ISBN-10: 0-13-713748-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-713748-0
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Queijo, Jon, 1955-
Breakthrough! : how the 10 greatest discoveries in medicine saved millions and changed our
view of the world / Jon Queijo.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-13-713748-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Medicine—Research—History. 2.
Discoveries in science. I. Title.
R852.Q45 2010
610.72—dc22
2009051043
With love and gratitude to my parents,
Anthony A. Queijo and June Dudley Queijo.
And a very special thanks to Rooshey Hasnain,
who helped me every step of the way with her many
ideas and her boundless encouragement, support,
and caring.
“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one
that heralds the most discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but
‘That’s funny.’”
—Isaac Asimov, American writer and biochemist
“That’s funny…”
—Alexander Fleming, on finding a moldy growth that
led to his discovery of penicillin
Contents at a Glance
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Chapter 1. The World’s First Physician:
Hippocrates and the Discovery of Medicine . . . . .7
Chapter 2. How Cholera Saved Civilization:
The Discovery of Sanitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Chapter 3. Invisible Invaders: The Discovery of Germs and
How They Cause Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Chapter 4. For the Relief of Unbearable Pain:
The Discovery of Anesthesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Chapter 5. I’m Looking Through You:
The Discovery of X-Rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Chapter 6. The Scratch That Saved a Million Lives:
The Discovery of Vaccines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Chapter 7. From Ancient Molds to Modern Miracles:
The Discovery of Antibiotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Chapter 8. Breaking God’s Code: The Discovery of Heredity,
Genetics,and DNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Chapter 9. Medicines for the Mind: The Discovery of
Drugs for Madness,Sadness,and Fear . . . . .193
Chapter 10. A Return to Tradition:
The Rediscovery of Alternative Medicine . . . . .221
Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251
Appendix A. The Milestones,by Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Appendix B. References and Additional Reading . . . . . . . .261
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Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xv
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Chapter 1. The world’s first physician: Hippocrates and
the discovery of medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
The making of the man: 19 generations of healers
and 3 first-rate legends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Milestone #1 Getting real: diseases have natural
causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Milestone #2 It’s the patient,stupid: the creation
of clinical medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Milestone #3 A code of ethics that stands the
test of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Milestone #4 Acting the part: professionalizing
the practice ofmedicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Milestone #5 The enigmatic Corpus: 60 books
and a wealth of medical firsts . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Milestone #6 Where the two worlds meet: a holistic
approach tomedicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Hippocrates for yesterday,today…and tomorrow . . .25
Chapter 2. How cholera saved civilization: the discovery of
sanitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
The Industrial Revolution: a new world of jobs,
innovation—and spectacular filth . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Milestone #1 The first epidemic: a lesson from
the depths of a coal mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Milestone #2 Casting aside miasma to envision
a new kind of killer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Milestone #3 The invention of epidemiology and
the disabling of a deadly pump . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Milestone #4 A new “Poor Law” raises hackles—
and awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
viii Breakthrough!
Milestone #5 A grand report creates a wealth of
ideas and a will to act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Milestone #6 The long,slow birth of a public
health revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Cholera and the failure of sanitation: alive and
well in the twenty-first century . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Chapter 3. Invisible invaders: the discovery of germs and
how they cause disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
The invisible “curiosity” that—finally—changed the
world of medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Milestone #1 The tragic loss of a friend (and a
brilliant gain of insight) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Milestone #2 A simple solution: wash your hands
and save a life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Milestone #3 From fermentation to pasteurization:
the germination of germ theory . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
A toast to yeast: a tiny critter gives birth to the
liquor industry and a new theory of germs . . . .54
Milestone #4 The “spontaneous generation of life”
finally meets its death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Milestone #5 The critical link: germs in the world
of insects,animals,and people . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Milestone #6 Antiseptics to the rescue:
Joseph Lister and the modern age of surgery . . .57
Milestone #7 One step closer: Robert Koch and
the secret life of anthrax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Milestone #8 Sealing the deal: discovery of the
cause of tuberculosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Milestone #9 Guidelines for convicting a germ:
Koch’s four famous postulates . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Germ theory a century later: the surprises
(and lessons) keep coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Eliminatinga few million unwanted guests:
the answer is still at hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Chapter 4. For the relief of unbearable pain: the discovery
of anesthesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
A painfully long wait: why it took 50 years for
anesthesia to finally arrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Contents ix
Milestone #1 From philanthropy to frivolity:
the discovery (anddismissal) of nitrous oxide . .72
Milestone #2 25 years of “jags” and “frolics”
culminate in public humiliation—and hope . . . . .75
Milestone #3 Anesthesia at last: the discovery of
Letheon (er,make that “ether”) . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Milestone #4 Coming of age: a new anesthetic
and a controversial new use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Milestone #5 From lint and gloves to modern
pharmacology: the birth of a science . . . . . . . . .81
An underlying mystery: the link between losing
consciousness—and raising it . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
An evolving science: from “knocking out”a patient
to administering precise molecular cocktails . . .86
Chapter 5. I’m looking through you: the discovery
of X-rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Mysteries,secrets,and revelations:
four true stories… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Eerie and invasive: an invisible form of light that
shocked and changed the world . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Milestone #1 How one man working alone at night
discovered a remarkable “new kind of ray” . . . . .95
Milestone #2 A one-year firestorm and those
“naughty,naughty” rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Milestone #3 Mapping the unknown country:
X-rays revolutionize diagnostic medicine . . . . . .101
Milestone #4 From hairy birthmarks to deadly
cancer: a new form of treatment . . . . . . . . . . .105
Milestone #5 A darker side is exposed: the deadly
dangers of X-rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Milestone #6 A leap into the modern age:
Coolidge’s hot tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Milestone #7 A final secret revealed: the true
nature of X-rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
The twentieth century and beyond: the milestones
keep on coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
A remarkable range of uses—but always
medicine’s trustworthy guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
