Nonfiction: The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean

Maybe it is the same morbid curiosity that draws me to true crime stories that drew me to today's selection, but I was probably way too excited to read The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean. From the title alone, I knew the book would be discussing lobotomies and their rise in popularity in the mid-1900s, but that is not the only questionable scientific discovery that would be covered.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book that moves through history, exploring various cases of scientists who become obsessed with their research (or for making a name for themselves) to the point of being blind to the atrocities they are committing in the process. Then there are those who are insistent on destroying their rivals as both attempt to make progress in the same field. And still others have the best intentions, but get caught up in secrets and betrayal. The prologue begins with Cleopatra and her curiosity pertaining to unborn fetuses (I won't go into it here, but trust me, it's terrible). Then the first chapter discusses an early 18th century sailor who made remarkable advancements in biology, navigation, and even meteorology, while committing horrible acts of biopiracy. After 11 more chapters, the book ends in the early 21st century with the case of Annie Dookhan, a woman who faked thousands of lab tests that were supposed to identify drugs that were seized during raids. The chapters in between deal with grave-robbing, animal cruelty, the Tuskegee study, espionage during World War II, torture, and of course, the lobotomy. Kean ends things with a brief look at where crimes in science could go from here, and it does not look good.

My Verdict: Exploring stories such as the ones found in this book can be difficult. Adding humor to the mix can easily cause offense, or make the author seem callous. Personally, I enjoyed the commentary Kean provided and found his comments and references refreshing, mainly because he was also able to inject the humor while acknowledging the severity of the situations. Kean makes it clear that these were crimes that took place, while emphasizing the importance of conducting scientific experiments in an ethical manner. These are stories of people who either chose to ignore what was really happening, or they justified their actions as necessary evils. For some, it was easy to balance the good they were doing and the discoveries that were being made against the unethical way it was all being done. Each story is fascinating, and horrifying, and I flinched with every eager turn of the page.

Favorite Chapter(s): Of course, the chapter on lobotomy, "Ambition: Surgery of the Soul," was a favorite. However, I also enjoyed chapter 10, titled "Torture: The White Whale."

Favorite Quote: "Normally, a healthy espirit is a good thing. But psychologists who've studied group dynamics have found that teams with high cohesiveness and uniform backgrounds tend to make worse decisions than groups with more diversity of thought. In particular, uniform groups rarely question their own unethical behavior - or more precisely, fail to recognize they're acting unethically." - from Chapter 7 "Oath-Breaking: Ethically Impossible."

Recommended Reading: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore explores a different case of authorities looking the other way as an atrocity occurred, affecting many.