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Microbes and the Fetlar Man: The Life of Sir William Watson Cheyne
By (author)
Jane Coutts
Genres:
Biography: historical, political & military, Biography: science, technology & engineering, History of medicine, Impact of science & technology on society, Surgical techniques, Surgery
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Synopsis
The life of Sir William Watson Cheyne spanned the flamboyant era of colonial expansion and some of the most important medical developments of the 19th century. His own role in these advances - as an eminent surgeon, an early researcher in medical bacteriology, a staunch ally of Lord Lister, an MP, and an intrepid traveller - has not previously been studied in depth. Fittingly for a man of meticulous detail, yet with a restless and pioneering imagination, his extraordinary story emerges from a fascinating mix of family and community memory and detailed archival research. Added to this resource is the sheer wonder of the digitisation of photographs and glass lantern slides from the family home - whereby faded sepia and scratched surfaces revive the 'ghosts' who took tea on the lawns of Leagarth House or served in the medical units of the Boer War. Many of these rare images are reproduced in the biography. When the author, then the manager of the museum on the remote Shetland island of Fetlar, first began to research 'Sir Watson' in 1999, she imagined 'in some small way ...restoring him to his rightful place in history'.She has surpassed this, both for readers of biography and for social historians, not only those those researching the history of medicine. New & Used
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What Reviewers Are Saying
'Though the name flows easily off the tongue, William Watson Cheyne ... may not be familiar to many readers, including the current author before being enlightened by this splendid book. This is a beautifully produced volume ... Many of the black and white images illustrating the book are reproductions of photographs taken by Sir Watson himself. The work is thickly referenced ... and has an extensive bibilography. [It] is an absorbing read which will appeal not only to surgeons wanting to know more about the origins of antiseptic surgery but also to all medical historians with an interest in the paradigm shift in clinical practice which Lister helped to initiate.' Andrew J. Larner, Medical Historian Issue 26, 2016; 'Medicine and bacteriology were undoubtedly Cheyne's public life, but Coutts has painted the clinical and scientific details on to a broader canvas, taking in the domestic life of his two marriages, parties at Leagarth and integration of the surgeon into the close life of his beloved island. These are the legacy for Fetlar. We have all enjoyed the benefits of germ theory to which Cheyne contributed, but he and his family touched the islanders in a particularly personal way. Coutts' biography means that now we can all share in it, too.' Helen Bynum, Times Higher Education, December 2015; 'The full, incredible story of Sir William Cheyne - An orphan brought up on one of the remotest of the Shetland islands [who] went on to become on of the country's first important bacteriologists in medicine, and worked as one of the most respected surgeons on the world-famous Harley Street.' Alistair Munro, The Scotsman; 'Jane Coutts is to be congratulated for a wonderful piece of work that at long last sheds a clear light on the life of one of Shetland's most eminent men and confirms his rightful place as a major contributor - in worldwide terms - to the advancement of medical science.' Charlie Simpson, The Shetland Times.