Alfred Blalock, Helen Taussig, Vivien Thomas: Mending Children's Hearts (Trailblazers in Science and Technology)

Lisa Yount

ISBN 10: 1604136588 ISBN 13: 9781604136586

Publisher: Chelsea House Publishers, 2011

In 1944, Alfred Blalock, Helen Taussig, and Vivien Thomas revolutionized surgical treatment of the heart and nearby blood vessels—through an improbable partnership among a white male surgeon, a white female physician, and an African-American male laboratory technician. Separately, each of these individuals was brilliant. Blalock discovered the cause and best treatment of the deadly medical condition called shock, which can occur after severe injury or loss of blood. Taussig essentially founded pediatric cardiology, the medical subspecialty dealing with children's heart ailments. And Thomas was an inventor, and to those who knew him, close to a surgical genius. It was the combination of their skills, however, that made medical history. Through their combined efforts, they found a solution to ""blue baby"" syndrome, which saved thousands of children's lives and showed that operating on the heart was possible. In this interesting new book, readers will be drawn into the work of these medical pioneers.

About the Author:

Lisa Yount is a graduate of Stanford University in English and creative writing. For approximately 45 years, she has written educational materials for young people. She has written or edited more than 50 books, nine of which have won awards or been included on ""most recommended"" lists. Yount's books for Facts On File and Chelsea House include Forensic Science, Modern Marine Science, Energy Supply, Patients' Rights in the Age of Managed Health Care, A to Z of Biologists, and many volumes in the Makers of Modern Science and Trailblazers in Science and Technology sets.

From the Inside Flap:

Trailblazers in Science and Technology profiles individuals who made discoveries that greatly broadened human knowledge and sometimes changed society or saved many lives. In addition to describing those discoveries and their effects, the books explore the qualities that made these people trailblazers, the personal relationships they formed, and way those relationships interacted with their scientific work.

Student researchers of science, along with science teachers will benefit from this exciting new series.

This unique and interesting series features full-color photographs and line illustrations.