Hello, Niles North, and welcome to Reed’s Recs! I am Reed Larson-Erf, here to talk to you about everything you never knew you had to find. This week, I’m so excited to talk to you about Sam Keen’s 2021 narrative nonfiction book, The Icepick Surgeon. Keen, a science writer, journalist and podcaster, visits historical moments where scientists crossed moral lines, from lying to torture and slavery, to get results.
The Icepick Surgeon melds science with true crime to capture unbelievable, potent true stories. Up front, one should be warned: this book discusses disturbing topics, including the Holocaust and invasive medical procedures. Sam Kean’s authoritative and knowledgeable voice guides audiences through shocking stories of research gone horribly wrong, labelled by categories like “Oath-Breaking,” “Murder,” and “Sabotage.” Readers will discover how horrific Nazi medical experiments contributed to modern medicine in surprising ways; how a pair of nineteenth-century paleontologists raced to outmatch each other in mutually destructive, so-called “Bone Wars”; how one scientist’s long-term experiment around the development of gender identity destroyed the life of a young man and caused his family to become dysfunctional.
Of course, science nerds will thrill to chemistry, anatomy, and other scientific facts dropped throughout the text. But what makes these stories especially interesting is Kean’s thoughtful discussion of the implications of each crime, their parallels elsewhere in history, and how they continue to influence us. In many cases, factors like pride, toxic ideologies, and even simple disregard or misplaced good intentions derailed scientists. In succumbing to such temptations, the scientists described in The Icepick Surgeon caused unimaginable pain, the memory of which can fuel modern-day ethical debates and distrust of the medical community. The phrase “evil scientist” tends to be associated with cartoonish megalomaniacs. The Icepick Surgeon shifts our attention to real evil scientists–who, by contrast, are usually ordinary people who compartmentalized their consciences during their research.
Sam Kean’s thought-provoking, highly informative book The Icepick Surgeon is available at the Skokie Public Library, and for purchase on Amazon. Thank you for listening, and tune in next time for everything you never knew you had to find!
