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    Unavailable
    The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
    Unavailable
    The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
    Unavailable
    The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    Narrated by Ruper Farley

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    This wryly humorous collection of stories about bizarre medical treatments and cases offers a unique portrait of a bygone era in all its jaw-dropping weirdness.

    A puzzling series of dental explosions beginning in the nineteenth century is just one of many strange tales that have long lain undiscovered in the pages of old medical journals. Award-winning medical historian Thomas Morris delivers one of the most remarkable, cringe-inducing collections of stories ever assembled. Witness Mysterious Illnesses (such as the Rhode Island woman who peed through her nose), Horrifying Operations (1781: A French soldier in India operates on his own bladder stone), Tall Tales (like the "amphibious infant" of Chicago, a baby that could apparently swim underwater for half an hour), Unfortunate Predicaments (such as that of the boy who honked like a goose after inhaling a bird's larynx), and a plethora of other marvels.

    Beyond a series of anecdotes, these painfully amusing stories reveal a great deal about the evolution of modern medicine. Some show the medical profession hopeless in the face of ailments that today would be quickly banished by modern drugs; but others are heartening tales of recovery against the odds, patients saved from death by the devotion or ingenuity of a conscientious doctor.

    However embarrassing the ailment or ludicrous the treatment, every case in The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth tells us something about the knowledge (and ignorance) of an earlier age, along with the sheer resilience of human life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 20, 2018
    ISBN9780525642176
    Unavailable
    The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine

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    Reviews for The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth

    3.5/5

    38 ratings4 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Readers looking for pop science in the style of Mary Roach will be disappointed in this one. Morris has cobbled together miscellaneous reports from medical journals and other publications over a roughly 200 year span from the mid 1600s to the mid 1800s. They range from ick-inducing to unlikely and mostly make the reader happy to not have to endure the "cures" of the era. He mostly lacks Roach's sassy humor, and after a while the parade of insults to the human body just begin to get bland, with an occasional side trip into TMI about self-mutilation.Feel free to pass this one up.
    • 3/5
      An eclectic collection, lightly organized, of unusual and disturbing medical stories and advice, mostly from the 19th century, presented in an oddly jocular tone with liberal use of quotations from the medical literature of the time. The resilience of the human body in the face of a vast array of improbable injuries and afflictions is extraordinary, as is its ability to withstand wrong-headed (but supremely confident) medical treatments.

      A book to be dipped into when your stomach is not too unsettled.
    • 3/5
      Author Thomas Morris compiled cases from various sources--newspapers, books, medical journals, etc.--with some unusual twists. In some instances, things are grotesque, in others just odd. The treatments sometimes bring a little humor to the story. I enjoyed the glimpses of actual headlines or snippets of the books, but this was just a mediocre read for me. Some stories were revulsive. The author uses a lot of quotes from his sources so the original voices do not become lost to the modern reader. I do think it provides good diversion for those interested in the history of medicine. In these times of COVID-19, a look at some of the past's mysterious illnesses may bring a little comic relief--or it may be a little too much like current headlines.
    • 5/5
      The Mystery of the Exploding TeethAnd Other Curiosities from the History of MedicineBy: Thomas MorrisNarrated by: Thomas Morris, Ruper FarleyWow, this book tells the strangest tales of horrible things that happened to people or people did to themselves, or just weird stories or bad luck! Stupidity or bad luck? Maybe a bit of both!I won't even try to give examples because I don't want my review to be censored! I love to read about bizarre medical history and culture. This covers more weird things doctors came across they had to treat. It does give examples of treatments but mostly it's about the problem and how it happened! Very interesting indeed!Good narration!