Format: audiobook
Author: Sam Kean ~ Title: The Icepick Surgeon ~ Narrator: Ben Sullivan
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

I enjoyed this audiobook a lot. It is full of dark deeds committed in the name of science. If you are sensitive about that, maybe it is not for you. But, if you like good and sometimes weird true history stories, then this is an excellent choice for you. Like the subtitle says, the author is writing about fraud, murder, piracy. But also about grave-robbing, animal cruelty, slavery, and more.

Most of these stories were new to me. I knew part of the story of the rivalry between Edison and Tesla and Edison's way to prove his idea is better. Since I first heard the story, I can't see Thomas Edison as a great inventor for what he is known today.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and I would recommend it to all who like unusual and not commonly known true stories. This was my first (audio)book by this author. I will make sure to read another one in the future. Also, the narration is very good and engaging.

This was such a fantastic book. I love books like this and I adored this author's other works so its not a surprise I liked this. The stories were fascinating and made me want to do even more research on each story. I felt like I really learned something listening to this book. I also laughed out loud at so many spots. This was just a joy to listen to and I absolutely can not wait for it to come out so I can share it with all of my friends.

I love Sam Kean. I've read all of his books and I get excited every time a new ones comes out. The Icepick Surgeon is no exception. Blending medical history and social commentary, this books weaves together a delightful assortment of scientific tales.

Specific to the audio book, I thought the narrator did a great job. His reading was precise and clear. The only distracting element was the constant call out to Kean's podcast. It's probably less intrusive in print but it felt repetitive in audio.

“No, what makes mad scientists mad isn’t their lack of logic or reason or scientific acumen. It’s that they do science too well, to the exclusion of their humanity.”

In other words, mad scientists don’t look like the men with wild-eyes, untamed hair, and white lab coats that we likely all imagine. They are regular scientists whose pursuit of knowledge or fame destroyed their humanity.

Mad scientists look much more like Thomas Edison and a slew of other scientists and explorers we may know.

These stories were fascinating, thought-provoking, and well-written. I got more details on stories I knew and learned about several new ones.

I appreciated the critical examination of museums (as someone who studied museums in school) and the hesitancy to call these scientists monsters as it makes it all to easy to shrug them off as anomalies.

Unfortunately, with this book being all about ethics, I really had trouble with the language used. Among other problematic terms, I noted the use of pr*stitute and g*psy. I don’t believe Kean can claim ignorance as the book was so well-researched, there’s no way he could have missed that these terms are problematic.

In less serious issues, I didn’t like that “future crimes” were discussed in the introduction as being a major feature, but they were relegated to the Appendix (which wasn’t even an appendix).

The book also mention Kean’s podcast several times. While I appreciated the offer of more information, it broke up the flow of the book and really just made it seem like a plug for his podcast.

I still felt that this book deserved a high star rating, but the problematic terms are a huge issue; and I hope that Kean will at least fix these in his life and podcast.

Sam Kean's popularity is well deserved – his writing is always interesting, he digs deep into the topic and has a disarming sense of humor. His last book is no exception. This time he presents stories that are not only, as usual in his case, bizarre but also pretty dark, provoking many questions about limits of scientific freedom and applying ethics in practice. Some of these tales are pretty well known but enriched with new details, some were revelatory to me – but each one was engrossing.

I also have to praise the narrator in the audio version – his performance is immaculate and very engaging. Despite the difficult topic, a combination of great writing and equally great delivery makes this item a perfect companion for a summer trip.

Thanks to the publisher, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This was a really interesting, although sometimes gruesome, collection of stories about people doing shady things in the name of science. I learned a lot of things about the history of some scientific discoveries. I will say, the chapter about Tesla and Edison was really hard to listen to at some points. It was really interesting to learn about their history together as collaborators then opponents, but the things that were done to animals in that process were horrific. There were several other disturbing sections, but that chapter was by far the toughest. My biggest complaint about this book is that the author regularly pitches his podcast. I think once at the beginning or the end would have been fine, but it popped up frequently enough to annoy me. Aside from that I thought it was a really interesting book with a lot of great information. I'm big into science and a lot of this was information I'd never heard before. I'm intrigued by this author and plan to check out more of his books.

As is probably apparent, I did listen to the audiobook. I thought the narrator did a great job and I would definitely listen to more of his narration.

Well written, well cited and very enjoyable. Kean told his stories in a very nuanced way and make the all-to-frequent error of blaming science as a whole for the the bad actions of some scientists (who are, after all, only human.) Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

Kean takes us through the unusual history behind some of sciences’ most appalling experiments in pursuit of knowledge. Kean recounts various scientists & experiments from Cleopatra to Nazi Germany, Tuskegee to modern mental health care

My initial reaction after listening to this one was a loss for words. There were times Kean’s descriptions had me physically cringing, which I don’t do very often. For this reason, I LOVED this book. Kean’s narration is great, and his recounting of these experiments really pulled me out of whatever I was doing while listening. It is really easy to get absorbed in this book!

The only reason why I wouldn’t give this a solid five stars is because there are definitely some very graphic details of experiments. While I don’t mind this, I know others might, so it’s something that I would emphasize before recommending this to anyone. There were also a few slower paced stories, but I think the purpose for pulling these in were to break up the really graphic parts, so I understand why they were included.

While this is technically nonfiction, it reads as compulsively as a thriller & as gripping as a true crime. Indeed, there are parts of it that I couldn’t believe were real—some of the details are truly unbelievable. Kean does an excellent job making a compelling narrative while including scientific or historical facts. It was definitely as educational as it was fascinating & thrilling. This can be a hard balance to strike, but Kean mastered it.

I will definitely not be forgetting this book anytime soon. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone (so long as they’re okay with the graphic content!)

I loved Kean's last book, CEASAR'S LAST BREATH, so I had high hopes going into this collection of anecdotes concerning the dark side of science. Considering my penchant for true crime and history this book sounds like a perfect fit for me. While I wasn't quite as in love with The Icepick Surgeon, I did find some of the stories fascinating, and there were quite a few I'd never read about before. My favorite chapter was actually the appendix with it's theorizing on the potential crimes of the future as science advances. Kean is an engaging writer and I'll definitely be checking out future books as well.

This cringe-worthy history of scientific advances will appeal to historians for history's sake as well as fans of narrative nonfiction for the sake of really good stories.

historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, fraud, pirates, natural-history, naturalist, science, medical*****

Conversationally written history of men who did good things in bad ways. I had not known about half of them and found the whole study fascinating. Well researched and thought provoking.
I do plan to add Sam Kean to my podcast list.
Narrator Ben Sullivan was comfortable enough with the material that it seemed like the author was presenting it!
I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from Hachette Audio and Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

An exploration of the most despicable discoveries in medical research, told through the doctors and scientists whose ambitions trumped the morals, ethics, and safety of the people that they were hoping to help.

TW: This book contains graphic descriptions of physical and psychological torture, ableist language, and outdated and racist terms, along with the other crimes listed in the book’s subtitle.

At its heart, the message that this book is trying to get across is that the ethics and human cost of research is something that we need to constantly need to evolve, scrutinize, and be conscious of. Kean uses true crime-style case studies to discuss the crimes that scientists have committed in the name of advancing our understanding of medicine. It’s extremely engaging storytelling and is written and narrated well, but there are many instances where readers are pulled out of the narrative for Kean to advertise his podcast (it’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! This chapter was episode 22!).

All of this being said, I had a lot of issues with the language chosen to represent these ideas. For a book that emphasizes learning from the downfalls of the past when it comes to creating a more humane and ethical future in medicine and medical research, the way that it’s spoken about is not as thoughtful when it comes to the word choices that Kean uses. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was quoting a contemporary source and the audiobook made it sound like it wasn’t a quote. However, towards the end of the book, there were some distinctions made about word choices that one sources uses no longer being in use and all uses of them were paraphrased from a published case study on that topic, and that distinction on one word’s use made me genuinely angry about the previous word choices.

[This paragraph refers to specific and potentially triggering words that the author used] I made notes on the word choices that stood out to me, but there were many more that I just didn’t have a chance to write down. Many of the word choices were ableist and honestly just lazily used in place of other adjectives— “schizoid” used in place of “contrasting,” “OCD” in place of “punctual” or “reliable—” words that took me less than 10 seconds to find replacements for on thesaurus.com. Other words were demeaning, such as referring sex workers who were put into dangerous studies as “hookers,” which further degrades the position that they were put into against their will. There was also the repeated use of the outdated term “Indian” to refer to indiginous people from North and South America and Mestizo people in Guatemala (it was also used properly to speak to people from India, but was used within the same chapter as the first use, so it caused a lot of confusion).

As with many books about medical history, I kept having to stop reading and walk away because the content of this book is so awful. Although it was written well for the content and does a good job of broaching the topic of why we need ethics in medicine to constantly be scrutinized, it was often just a lot to take in (some chapters more than others for sure). Unfortunately, the ethical issues that this book raises aren’t all completely over with. The penultimate case study focuses on the traumatic treatment of intersex, transgender, and queer youth who endure surgeries and therapies, often without consent. It’s hard to read and heartbreaking to consider, but occasionally felt like these issues were a part of the past like the other stories featured in this book. It’s very crucial to remember that ethical issues in medicine still exist and will continue to arise as science and our understanding of medicine evolves, and I think that the conclusion and afterword touch on this well; however, the fact that these aren’t addressed until after so many hard-to-read anecdotes troubles me for a couple of reasons. I wish that these considerations were more top-of-mind while reading and introduced as readers go into this book, and I worry that many readers will stop reading this book ahead of getting to these considerations, purely because of the nature of this book.

I've read all of Sam Kean's books, and thoroughly enjoy them. This one is of particular interest to me due to my career in medicine. The author has done a thorough job of researching his topics, and presents the stories in a very engaging manner.

I'm not sure how I feel about the inclusion of 'links' or references to the author's podcast for more in-depth examination of some of the stories. It honestly felt a little self-promoting every time he mentioned his website and podcast. I see the draw of having another outlet for further explanation and elucidation, but again, it just kind of felt odd.

The narration was fantastic, and overall, I would highly recommend this audiobook.

This is an amazing book! I love it to the moon and back! I have learned so many interesting things, I'm going around the house and sharing them with whoever wants to listen 😁 Some chapters were freaky and disgusting, some were amuzing, but overall, this was a fantastic read!

A non fiction book about ethics and science. Some sections of this read like a real life historical Bold and Beautiful, some bits was straight out nightmare porn

While the book was very interesting and deserves credit and praise, it was a bit basic. Maybe a bit more research or a scientist who wasn't American or English would have been refreshing.

“Science is Simply the Word We Use to Describe a Method of Organizing Our Curiosity” … Tim Minchin.
Sam Kean tells us about some crazy people and the things they did in the name of science.
This was a audiobook and the narrator Ben Sullivan was great! He always does a good job.
I love history and this kept my interest all the way through. The author convincingly wrote about the horrors. I was shocked about the Nazi’s experiments and how we learned so much from them.
If you love history and crime I highly recommend this.
Thanks Little, Brown & Co via Netgalley.

An easy to listen to story, narrated by the author, who has a pleasant reading voice. Filled with tales of scientists who crossed the line in their endeavors to further knowledge. It even calls out Cleopatra for being the first to do so, trying to determine the sex of unborn children. Some great stories in here. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Tom Clavin, and the publisher.

4 stars

This is the sort of novel that will make you scared to go to the doctor. Obviously I expected abuse towards humans, but readers should note there is also hard to read animal cruelty as well. I will never look at Edison the same way. Some of the stories were cut short with the author's annoying plugs for their podcast. It was inappropriate to include it so many times in the text, it should have just been a little blub at the start or end.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

An informative book that discusses the ethical limits of science and exposes the most flagrant cases of immoral behavior. There are so many things that I liked about it. Firstly, Kean refuses to judge the people involved in these stories. He bases his arguments on the ethical principles that existed at the time, and not the ones we use today. He doesn’t turn these real people into stereotypes of mad scientists. Some did some good in other areas, they were not all evil. That said, he doesn’t defend the indefensible, but he makes some good arguments about the legacies that these unethical experiments have given humankind. Yes, the nazis were evil and their experiments into hypothermia were horrible and cruel but, if your daughter was suffering from it, would you refuse the insights that the nazis brought because the ways they did it were horrific? He doesn’t offer easy answers, it is up to the reader to decide. I also liked the fact that I don’t know his personal political views. He discusses bad things done by both sides of the aisle. He’s never preachy. Full disclosure, there is a chapter about animal cruelty that I had to skip altogether. The narration by Ben Sullivan is direct and fun, like an informal chat with a friend and without the professorial tone that some of the science audiobooks have. Cringeworthy but fascinating!
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/@HachetteAudio, Little, Brown & Company!

I couldn't stop listening to this audio book!
It was good from start to finish.
I enjoyed the character development, the writing, the plot!.
This was a interesting, unstoppable, good audio read that I devoured!.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this awesome audio book