The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science

by Sam Kean

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The Icepick Surgeon is a tale of doctors gone amok, crossing the line from experiment to crime, often wrong for all well-intentioned reasons, and what these stories reveal about historic times in which they took place. Sam Kean is an eclectic writer with an affinity for scientific subjects and their weird and darker paths, and he has an inimitable knack for transforming this passionate interest into astonishing story, punctuated with humor and rife with the absurd. 

From a New York Times bestselling author comes the gripping, untold history of science's darkest secrets, "a fascinating book [that] deserves a wide audience" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.

The Icepick Surgeon masterfully guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra’s dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison’s mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren’t all safely buried in the past. Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one another wrong.

Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316496506
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	07/13/2021
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	167,194
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Sam Kean is the New York Times bestselling author of The Bastard Brigade, Caesar's Last Breath (the Guardian's Science Book of the Year), The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, The Violinist's Thumb, and The Disappearing Spoon. He is also a two-time finalist for the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. 

His work has appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the New York Times Magazine, among other publications, and he has been featured on NPR's Radiolab, All Things Considered, Science Friday, and Fresh Air. His podcast, The Disappearing Spoon, debuted at #1 on the iTunes science charts. Kean lives in Washington DC.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Cleopatra's Legacy 3

Introduction 6

1 Piracy: The Buccaneer Biologist 11

2 Slavery: The Corruption of the Flycatcher 33

3 Grave-Robbing: Jekyll & Hyde, Hunter & Knox 59

4 Murder: The Professor and the Janitor 79

5 Animal Cruelty: The War of the Currents 96

6 Sabotage: The Bone Wars 122

7 Oath-Breaking: Ethically Impossible 145

8 Ambition: Surgery of the Soul 174

9 Espionage: The Variety Act 201

10 Torture: The White Whale 229

11 Malpractice: Sex, Power, and Money 254

12 Fraud: Superwoman 283

Conclusion 300

Appendix: The Future of Crime 306

Acknowledgments 321

Works Cited 323

Index 347

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/17/2021

Kean (The Bastard Brigade) delivers a fascinating survey of crimes committed by scientists, all of whom shared the desire to “do science too well, to the exclusion of their humanity.” For many, the road toward ignominy began gradually, as their initial moral compromises snowballed out of control to further a perceived greater good. For example, the title character, American neurologist Walter Freeman, developed the transorbital lobotomy, a procedure that was initially performed with an icepick. Freeman hoped to find a simple, surgical way for treating the mentally ill; instead, his brutal and unsuccessful method was used on those with only mild symptoms. Kean’s wide scope includes Nazi doctors, whose sadistic experiments yielded life-saving information on conditions such as hypothermia, and rival paleontologists, whose fossil-hunting conflicts devolved into fraud and violence. Kean argues convincingly that what makes his subjects unique in the annals of crime is that they did wrong “for data—to augment our understanding of the world.” This engrossing look at crimes often committed by otherwise moral people deserves a wide readership. Agent: Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Assoc. (July)

Publishers Weekly

★ 06/01/2021

In this witty, thought-provoking book, best-selling author Kean (The Bastard Brigade; The Disappearing Spoon) explores crimes committed in the name of scientific discovery. He examines scientists throughout history whose pursuit of knowledge took a disturbing turn but often led to discoveries with lasting impacts. Readers meet figures across the sciences, from 17th-century pirate/biologist William Dampier, who set the stage for colonialism and biopiracy, to psychologists who experimented with brutal interrogation techniques, to crooked crime labs relying on fraudulent forensics. Kean addresses the effects of these crimes and links them to ongoing conversations around topics such as gender, mental health care, and animal testing. Citing the Tuskegee study of syphilis, as well as naturalists who "piggybacked on the transatlantic slave trade to gather facts and collect specimens," he also considers the role of racism in scientific exploitation. The book concludes with thoughtful musings on new scientific territories that are ripe for crime, including space exploration and artificial intelligence. Kean is a powerful, exciting storyteller who deftly considers ethical questions within an engaging narrative. VERDICT A lively, compelling addition to the true crime and popular science genres. Morbidly curious readers may also enjoy Gory Details, by Erika Engelhaupt.—Kate Bellody, SUNY New Paltz

Library Journal

"Kean is a gifted raconteur… [in The Icepick Surgeon] you’ll find a series of gripping stories about evil scientific deeds, corrupt rivalries and skulduggery—with real skulls."—John Schwartz, New York Times Book Review

“Delightful, highly readable… Kean takes his readers on an engrossing — and sometimes horrifying — historical tour of the many ways the search for knowledge can go wrong… Written with the flair of a beach thriller and the thoughtfulness of philosophy, the pages explode with a wealth of information and juicy details, all held together with virtuoso storytelling.”—Lucinda Robb, Washington Post

“The Icepick Surgeon has its gems of phraseology… We cringe at the ghastly work of grave robbers and surgeons in blood-stiff aprons, and laugh at the comical fights among paleontologists bent on destroying one another’s careers… As each chapter compounds, it becomes more difficult to condemn and smirk without seeing the systemic ways that early sins have crept into the heart of science and medicine today… It takes honesty and integrity to make good science; we ignore this at our peril.”—Brandy Schillace, Wall Street Journal

“Fascinating… Imagine a novel full of true crime thrillers with just one twist—every crime in it was committed in the name of science. This is the premise of the new book, The Icepick Surgeon… From Cleopatra to Thomas Edison, scientists have been responsible for some dastardly crimes throughout history.”—Ira Flatow, NPR Science Friday

“Vivid… [The Icepick Surgeon] serves as an important reminder that science is ever a human enterprise… Kean’s talent for spinning a delightful tale shines.”—Deborah Blum, Science

"The title alone is enough to make one buy this book! Kean is a funny and facile writer who proves that facts are indeed stranger than fiction. His tales of slavery, graverobbing, experiments, killing, and mayhem are not for the squeamish. But I dare you to put the book down once you start it."—Lawrence De Maria, Washington Independent Review of Books

“Catalogs some of the greatest ethical lapses done in the name of science… The Icepick Surgeon probably raises more questions than it answers. But that’s a hallmark of good experiments—as well as good books about science and scientists.”—Diana Gitig, Ars Technica

“Entertaining and chilling... Expert at spinning historical science yarns… Kean excels at conveying each scientist’s slide into corruption—one so gradual that, like the fabled boiling frog, they scarcely noticed they were in hot water.”—Elizabeth Svoboda, Undark

“Fascinating… Kean argues convincingly that what makes his subjects unique in the annals of crime is that they did wrong ‘for data—to augment our understanding of the world.’ This engrossing look at crimes often committed by otherwise moral people deserves a wide readership."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[A] witty, thought-provoking book... Kean is a powerful, exciting storyteller who deftly considers ethical questions within an engaging narrative.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Kean [has a] gift for making science understandable. His writing style is conversational and witty—but he never forgets the real human costs of these crimes.”—Deborah Mason, Bookpage

“[An] interesting discussion of the meaning of true progress and its cost is a thoughtful look through history and into the future.”—Cassie Gutman, Bookriot

“Kean’s strength lies in his storytelling, and in the humane combination of humor and compassion toward the strange life histories he pieces together.”—Columbus Dispatch

From the Publisher