Recently I finished reading a book about the discovery of anesthesia. There was a lot more drama involved than I ever thought possible, to be quite honest. Four men are credited with the discovery of it, but back in their days during the early to mid 1880s they called anesthesia "ether". All of the men were from the American Northeast and Southeast. The men were completely grown up when they made their discoveries, and obviously they were all white, because come on, this was a history book I was reading (could I be any more sarcastic?)
At one point or another all of these men had met one another and traded information and ideas, but ultimately they all hated each other. Well, except for the discoverer from Georgia. The other three men wanted the glory of the discovery all for themselves. They did not want to share the money, so they scrambled as fast as they could to get a patent on it. These three men all became extremely depressed and anxious and one of the three committed suicide. That particular man was actually in jail when he ended his own life, because he had spent the remaining days of his life getting high and wandering around the streets of New York City. But one day while under the influence he threw acid on some prostitutes and that landed him in jail, where he spent his final 48 hours.
One of the other men also ended up in New York City in his last weeks. He and his wife were living there, but he was so overwrought by anxiety that every waking moment was torture for him. One day while driving a carriage through Central Park he suffered from a stroke, and he died in the park with his wife by his side. He was buried near Cambridge back in Massachusetts where he was originally from.
The last of the three "crazy" men found the grave of the aforementioned man and went insane in front of it. He started shouting at no one in particular and creating a disturbance so great that other people in the cemetery became concerned and called the police. When the cops arrived he was arrested and put into an asylum, where he spent his remaining few years.
Remember that fourth man who I mentioned in the very beginning of this post? Well, he was the only man who actually ended up leading a happy life. He was not trying to discover anesthesia for the fame or fortune, because he did not want any money from it at all. He just wanted to help his patients. He spent the majority of his life in Georgia with his wife and children. Delivering babies was his favorite thing to do as a doctor, and he actually spent the last few hours of his life delivering a child. Immediately after the baby was born he had a stroke and passed away a bit later. Personally I find it unsafe that a man who was about to have a stroke was delivering a baby, but I guess it's a little bit late for my opinion.
I'd highly recommend you all read the book "We Have Conquered Pain: The Discovery of Anesthesia" by Dennis Brindell Fradin. Even though I've basically spoiled the entire book for you in this post, I still think it's worth a read ;)
Buy Here
At one point or another all of these men had met one another and traded information and ideas, but ultimately they all hated each other. Well, except for the discoverer from Georgia. The other three men wanted the glory of the discovery all for themselves. They did not want to share the money, so they scrambled as fast as they could to get a patent on it. These three men all became extremely depressed and anxious and one of the three committed suicide. That particular man was actually in jail when he ended his own life, because he had spent the remaining days of his life getting high and wandering around the streets of New York City. But one day while under the influence he threw acid on some prostitutes and that landed him in jail, where he spent his final 48 hours.
One of the other men also ended up in New York City in his last weeks. He and his wife were living there, but he was so overwrought by anxiety that every waking moment was torture for him. One day while driving a carriage through Central Park he suffered from a stroke, and he died in the park with his wife by his side. He was buried near Cambridge back in Massachusetts where he was originally from.
The last of the three "crazy" men found the grave of the aforementioned man and went insane in front of it. He started shouting at no one in particular and creating a disturbance so great that other people in the cemetery became concerned and called the police. When the cops arrived he was arrested and put into an asylum, where he spent his remaining few years.
Remember that fourth man who I mentioned in the very beginning of this post? Well, he was the only man who actually ended up leading a happy life. He was not trying to discover anesthesia for the fame or fortune, because he did not want any money from it at all. He just wanted to help his patients. He spent the majority of his life in Georgia with his wife and children. Delivering babies was his favorite thing to do as a doctor, and he actually spent the last few hours of his life delivering a child. Immediately after the baby was born he had a stroke and passed away a bit later. Personally I find it unsafe that a man who was about to have a stroke was delivering a baby, but I guess it's a little bit late for my opinion.
I'd highly recommend you all read the book "We Have Conquered Pain: The Discovery of Anesthesia" by Dennis Brindell Fradin. Even though I've basically spoiled the entire book for you in this post, I still think it's worth a read ;)
Buy Here
