For the longest time, I viewed what I do as an academic, a writer, and a website editor as being all very separate endeavors. In fact, when I first launched my website, Wonders & Marvels, so many years ago, I didn’t even put my name on it. I was afraid that I’d be “found out”…

Jen over at Devourer of Books wrote a lovely review of Blood Work recently. Here’s an excerpt (and here’s the full review):

Blood Work is not only the story of this medical mystery, the death of Antoine Mauroy and the framing of Jean-Baptiste Denis. Tucker also provides a background to the history of early transfusion. In doing so, she sheds a great deal of light on the culture and beliefs of 17th century France and England, as well as explaining the previously omnipresent custom of bloodletting.

Holly Tucker has written an absolutely fascinating book. It is an extremely compelling read. Even with a stack of books in my bag and an even bigger pile on my Nook, when I picked up Blood Work on the airplane I did not put it back down until I had turned the last page. Part of this is simply Tucker’s writing style. She has clear, concise prose that makes even convoluted 17th century medical beliefs easy to follow. In addition, she clearly has a great command of her subject matter. When the author understands her material so well, she can explain even the most complex subjects with ease.

I recently did a guest post over at Devourer of Books on early animal-to-human transfusions. Jump on over and read the full post, but here’s an excerpt:

It may seem incredibly strange that the earliest transfusions used animals as donors. But this actually makes good sense, in a way. The first transfusionists were interested in finding the best and purest blood that they could use in their experiments. Animals fit the bill.

When’s the last time you’ve seen a dog speak? Or heard a cow swear? Or a lamb drink? The thought was that animals lived purely. They did not corrupt their blood with foul matter, like humans did.

Also, animals were – so they thought – expendable. Why risk the life of two human beings in these risky experiments when you could pluck animal off the street or have a local butcher bring one in?

Denis’ very first blood experiment on humans was performed on a feverish boy. The second on a butcher, likely the one who brought the lamb in for the first experiment. Both survived.

The next human transfusion was performed in England. But the English had shifted course. They focused their efforts on a mentally-ill man named Arthur Coga. Coga was well-educated and spoke fluent Latin. But there was something off about him. “Cracked in the head,” as a contemporary wrote.