The Undead - Organ Harvesting, the Ice Water Test, Beating Heart Cadavers How

Zusatztext   “This disturbing! often hilarious book raises many critical questions about deadness.”    — The New York Times Book Review “An indefatigable researcher and fluid writer! Mr. Teresi provides a good long riff on death past and present.”    — The New York Times The Week Magazine Author of the Week (03/21/2012) "The moment of death! suggests science writer Dick Teresi! is harder to pin down than ever...Charting historical definitions of death! the thinking of research greats and debates over near-death experiences! Teresi notes that the ethical challenges are immense! asking! for instance! whether all organ donors are unrevivable."    — Nature “…Chilling! controversial! and! at times! comical commentary on physical death…All sorts of experts—on coma! animal euthanasia! and execution—as well as undertakers! organ transplant staff! neurologists! ethicists! and lawyers weigh-in on the death debate.”     —Tony Miksanek! Booklist “Like a real-life version of Robin Cook’s medical thriller Coma! Teresi paints a grisly picture of organ harvesting and raises uncomfortable questions: Is the donor actually dead rather than at the point of death? Might he or she be revived given time and proper medical attention? …Provocative… [An] examination of important ethical issues and the still-unresolved question of what constitutes death.”     — The Kirkus Review “Reading Dick Teresi’s book is like discovering that your college class has been hijacked by the spitball-lobbing kid in the back row—and that the kid is twice as smart as the prof ever was. Taking on biologists! philosophers! and the medical establishment! Teresi zestfully skewers our confused thinking about life! death! and the states in between. The Undead is a rarity: a superserious examination of a profound subject that is a pleasure to read.”    —Charles C. Mann! author of 1493 and 1491    “As I was pulled into this startling! informative account of death-defying and death-defining! I couldn’t help putting a checkmark in the margin next to every line that made me gasp—or laugh—or marvel at Dick Teresi’s bold! inimitable reporting style. On some pages I made as many as four checkmarks. The book left me reeling at the welter of uncertainty that surrounds the certainty of death.”    —Dava Sobel! author of Longitude and A More Perfect Heaven Informationen zum Autor Dick Teresi is the coauthor of The God Particle and the author of Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science! both selected as New York Times Book Review Notable Books. He has been the editor in chief of Science Digest! Longevity! VQ! and Omni! and has written for The New York Times! The Wall Street Journal! and The Atlantic! among other publications. Prologue   “B” Pod of the intensive care unit (ICU) at Baystate Medical Center is very bright: intense lights, everything painted in primary colors. Cabinets, counters, and chairs are a sparkling blue, obviously intended to be cheery, not sepulchral. A blue central stripe on the grayish linoleum floor leads us from room to room. There are three ICU pods at this Springfield, Massachusetts, hospital, each with three rooms arranged like spokes around a central station filled with computer terminals. Doctors and nurses come and go.   The patients in their separate rooms, like sickly fish in glass tanks arranged for observation, are largely slack-mouthed and gray or pale yellow in color. Most are fitted with clear plastic tubes the diameter of vacuum-cleaner hoses attached to their mouths. Most are old and gnarled, with sallow, sickly complex-ions. Sometimes one can see a bare concave chest or a yellowed foot sticking out from beneath a sheet. None is conversing.   We are not here to see them. ...

Product details

• Authors: Dick Teresi
• Publisher: Random House USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 13.03.2012, delayed
• EAN: 9780375423710
• ISBN: 978-0-375-42371-0
• No. of pages: 336
• Subject: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Clinical medicine