natural history discovering neurosurgery

books:

When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery

15 reviews
Frank T. Vertosick

W. W. Norton & Company, 1996

The training of a Neurosurgeon
The author has an edgy, sleep-deprived, wisecrack-a-minute style that makes me glad some states, at least, have reduced the number of hours per week a medical resident must work, from one hundred to eighty. Neurosurgery is a very unforgiving craft, and not all of the stories in this book have a happy ending. Neurosurgeons must tackle some pretty hopeless cases, and the human brain is a very ...

Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain
Jr., Frank T. Vertosick, 2001

When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales from Neurosurgery

34 reviews
Frank Vertosick

W. W. Norton, 2008

"Neurosurgeons do things that cannot be undone."
Originally published in 1996, "When the Air Hits Your Brain," by Dr. Frank Vertosick, is a mesmerizing insider's look at "an arrogant occupation" whose practitioners operate on the spinal cord and the human brain ("a trillion nerve cells storing electrical patterns more numerous than the water molecules of the world's oceans"). A neurosurgeon must be supremely confident in his ability to get the ...

The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing
Frank T., Jr. Vertosick

Harcourt, 2002

If we're so smart, why are we still at the mercy of treacherous microorganisms? The Genius Within: Discovering the Intelligence of Every Living Thing asks readers to let go of brain worship and look at the incredible problem-solving skills of viruses, ants, and other lowly creatures. Neurosurgeon Frank T. Vertosick Jr. seems an unlikely candidate to write a book celebrating noncerebral intelligence, but his knowledge helps him draw comparisons ...

Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain

8 reviews
Frank T. Vertosick

Diane Pub Co, 2000

A terrible instrument
C.S. Lewis said in his book, "The Problem of Pain": "Pain as God's megaphone is a terrible instrument." It gets our attention and warns us of danger. Unfortunately, some doctors don't listen to that same megaphone when treating their patients. According to a recent "New York Times" article, "More than a third of seriously ill patients who requested that doctors ease their discomfort instead of ...