Adventures in Human Being
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Narrated by:
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Thomas Judd
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By:
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Gavin Francis
About this listen
We have a lifetime's association with our bodies, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory.
In Adventures in Human Being, Gavin Francis leads the listener on a journey through health and illness, offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the secret workings of the heart and the womb; from the pulse of life at the wrist to the unique engineering of the foot.
Drawing on his own experiences as a doctor and GP, he blends firsthand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over the millennia. If the body is a foreign country, then to practise medicine is to explore new territory: Francis leads the listener on an adventure through what it means to be human.
Both a user's guide to the body and a celebration of its elegance, this audiobook will transform the way you think about being alive, whether in sickness or in health.Gavin Francis is an award-winning writer and doctor and a contributor to The Guardian, The New York Review of Books and London Review of Books.
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- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Crushed between a truck and a tree, Simon and his wife were both pronounced dead at the scene of a horrific car accident. Enduring a broken skull, jaw, arms, clavicle and pelvis, followed by a coma, Simon lives to tell his remarkable journey from tragedy to triumph.
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Amazing opportunities for healing!
- By Leah on 04-29-17
By: Simon Lewis
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The Heart Healers
- The Misfits, Mavericks, and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of Our Lives
- By: James Forrester MD
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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At one time heart disease was a death sentence. By the middle of the 20th century, it was killing millions, and, as with the Black Death centuries before, physicians stood helpless. Visionaries, though, had begun to make strides earlier. On September 7, 1895, Ludwig Rehn successfully sutured the heart of a living man with a knife wound to the chest for the first time.
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Great review of the landmark achievements in Cardiology.
- By Trauma NP on 12-14-15
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Blood and Guts
- A History of Surgery
- By: Richard Hollingham
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Today, astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making limb transplants, face transplants, and a host of other previously undreamed-of operations possible. But getting here has not been a simple story of medical progress. In Blood and Guts, veteran science writer Richard Hollingham weaves a compelling narrative from the key moments in surgical history. We have a ringside seat in the operating theater of University College Hospital in London as world-renowned Victorian surgeon Robert Liston performs a remarkable amputation in 30 seconds - from first cut to final stitch.
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I love this book!
- By Kristin on 08-25-19
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In Shock
- My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope
- By: Dr. Rana Awdish
- Narrated by: Dr. Rana Awdish, Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In Shock is a riveting first-hand account from a young critical care physician, who in the passage of a moment is transfigured into a dying patient. This transposition, coincidentally timed at the end of her medical training, instantly lays bare the vast chasm between the conventional practice of medicine and the stark reality of the prostrate patient.
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Read this book!
- By CT on 11-08-17
By: Dr. Rana Awdish
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The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth
- And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Morris
- Narrated by: Thomas Morris, Ruper Farley
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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A puzzling series of dental explosions beginning in the 19th century is just one of many strange tales that have long lain undiscovered in the pages of old medical journals. Award-winning medical historian Thomas Morris delivers one of the most remarkable, cringe-inducing collections of stories ever assembled.
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Boring Toilet Humor
- By Nemo on 01-30-20
By: Thomas Morris
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Birth
- The Surprising History of How We Are Born
- By: Tina Cassidy
- Narrated by: Angela Starling
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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From evolution to the epidural and beyond, Tina Cassidy presents an intelligent, enlightening, and impeccably researched cultural history of how and why we're born the way we are. Women have been giving birth for millennia, but that's about the only constant in the final stage of the great process that is human reproduction. Why is it that every culture and generation seems to have its own ideas about the best way to give birth?
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important historical work, fascinating and fun
- By RT on 02-24-16
By: Tina Cassidy
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One Doctor
- Close Calls, Cold Cases, and the Mysteries of Medicine
- By: Brendan Reilly
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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An epic story told by a unique voice in American medicine, One Doctor describes life-changing experiences in the career of a distinguished physician. In riveting first-person prose, Dr. Brendan Reilly takes us to the front lines of medicine today.
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Simply Brilliant
- By Jan on 06-20-14
By: Brendan Reilly
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Phineas Gage
- A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science
- By: John Fleischman
- Narrated by: Kevin Orton
- Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1848 Vermont, railroad foreman Phineas Gage sat above a hole, preparing to blast through some granite. A 13-pound iron rod fell from his hands into the hole, triggering the explosion and sending the rod straight through Phineas' head. Thirty minutes after this terrible accident, Phineas sat on the steps of a hotel, patiently waiting for the town doctor to arrive. He chatted with his amazed coworkers as if nothing had happened. But something terrible had happened.
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Compact &view of the roots of brain science
- By D. Littman on 03-03-09
By: John Fleischman
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Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them)
- A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying
- By: Sallie Tisdale
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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You get ready to die the way you get ready for a trip. Start by realizing you don't know the way. Listen to a few travel guides. Study the language, look at maps, gather equipment. Let yourself imagine what it will be like. Pack your bags. This book is one of those travel guides - a guide to preparing for your own death and the deaths of people close to you. The fact of death is hard to believe. Sallie Tisdale explores our fears and all the ways death and talking about death make us uncomfortable - but she also explores its intimacies and joys.
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I thought I had more time...
- By Alyssa on 09-09-19
By: Sallie Tisdale
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Tell Me Where It Hurts
- Humor, Healing and Hope in my Life as an Animal Surgeon
- By: Dr. Nick Trout
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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From the frontlines of modern medicine, Tell Me Where it Hurts is a fascinating insider portrait of a veterinarian, his furry patients, and the blend of old-fashioned instincts and cutting-edge technology that defines pet care in the 21st century. Dr. Trout takes the listener on a vicarious journey through 24 intimate, heartrending hours in his life.
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So close, yet not quite.
- By ButterLegume on 04-18-13
By: Dr. Nick Trout
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God's Hotel
- A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine
- By: Victoria Sweet
- Narrated by: Victoria Sweet
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital is the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hôtel-Dieu (God's hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves - "anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times" and needed extended medical care - ended up here. So did Victoria Sweet, who came for two months and stayed for 20 years. Laguna Honda, lower-tech but human-paced, gave Sweet the opportunity to practice a kind of attentive medicine that has almost vanished.
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Great read
- By kayla solomon on 04-08-17
By: Victoria Sweet
What listeners say about Adventures in Human Being
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 10-01-18
Fantastic listen!
More about the ways in which we've interacted with and discovered our bodies throughout human history than the anatomy itself, but there are modern scientific descriptions as well. The author's passion shines through and the narrator's reading makes it even more enjoyable (it helps that he sounds like Neil Gaiman and does accents well).
If you enjoy history, literature, sociology or a new and well-informed perspective, give this a go!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Yuefang
- 07-25-16
Informative And Educating In My Leisure Time
The narrator does a superb job. The story is very informative and give me pleasure to know more and more appreciative about my own body. I have to thank the author so immensely for sharing it to us.
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- Fact addict
- 05-20-17
Some new info, some old; British accent adds a little
As I have been in the medical field for some forty years, I did not really expect anything terribly new. I did thoroughly enjoy the reader's British accent, especially when there were differences in pronunciation, such as saying 'carcinoma ' with a hard 'c' as in "car-kin-oma. That one pulled me up short!
There were many interesting and personally touching items, such as the original fabrication of a dialysis machine with an orange juice carton, plastic sausage wrappers, and a motor from a Ford truck. I presently have a beloved friend who is on dialysis, so that meant a lot to me.
The history anecdotes were fascinating and worth the book for sure!
A delight, which I will probably revisit from time to time. Highly recommended!!!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jami
- 07-19-17
Head to Toe Analysis
I listened to this on audible, and the narration was fine. I tend to enjoy nonfiction books more in audio than print format.
This started a little slow for me, but it became more interesting as the book progressed. I wasn't too keen on the literary references and some of the historical information at first, but then it became a bit more interesting. The book was set up in sections starting a the head and ending with the feet. While there wasn't a lot of new medical information, I did learn some things here and there. I did enjoy listening to the case studies and their application to the particular body part under discussion.
There was some humor in the book; I LOL during the rectum discussion when a patient's x-ray was stolen (I won't spoil it, but it is good!!!). I also realized that perhaps I shouldn't be listening to the placenta part during my lunch hour; as I was eating my lunch and listening to the book, the author was discussing cultures where placenta was eaten for various reasons.
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1 person found this helpful
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- R. Kov.
- 12-22-15
Anatomy at it's Clearest!!
Being from the States, I always enjoy hearing readers from Briton.
This is especially true of the subject matter. Both the author with the reader voice were able translate such an incredibly hard subject with such clarity that I am sure that I will listen to this book possibly 2 more times!!
BRAVO!!
Thank You!!
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21 people found this helpful
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- Danielle
- 03-22-16
Fascinating
It just ended and I'm going to listen again! Every aspect was amazing. Enjoy!
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20 people found this helpful
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- U-
- 02-10-20
Be Amazed, at the poem that is the human body!
Extremely rereshing to encounter writing that recalls the practice of medicine and training with fondness and fascination! A good reminder of why we were drawn to medicine in the first place. The beautiful orchestra that occurs daily without our own effort. Allow yourself to be amazed by the human body.
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1 person found this helpful
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- MLP
- 05-10-16
The anecdotes in this writing are entertaining.
The anecdotes in this writing are entertaining. It seems that the author has has had a very interesting medical practice. I had no expectations going into this but after the first chapter I was hooked. I was intrigued by the author's ability to link classical writings to modern medical knowledge and practices. I would recommend this book and I will probably give it another listen at some point.
The reader's voice is pleasant and had a good pace.
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37 people found this helpful
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- Martha
- 01-09-16
Great Book
Great book, but much shorter than I had expected. wish it had been longer. But I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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18 people found this helpful
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- 0gravityman
- 03-28-18
Fun to know about us humans
Nice commentary on being us. Enjoyed it a lot with special interest on the old medical ideas
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