Blinded by Science Book Club discussion

Hopefully a few people have already started reading! The discussion will begin next month and while it's meant to be informal, some of you may have specific questions or points you would like to talk about. This is the thread for you.
Why save questions for next month? Post them here for safe-keeping.

A bit early, but I thought I'd start with a couple discussion prompts:

How can you apply your recently acquired knowledge?

Was there a chapter, quote, or line that made an impression on you?

Hmm. It hadn't occurred to me to apply the knowledge gained to my personal life. I don't see a use for it in my professional life, except I have told those residents eager to apply to GI fellowship about the book.
For me, Roach's books are about the whole gestalt. She excels in taking a somewhat obscure area and exposing the whole of it to our view. Windows into a world we perhaps never thought we'd want to explore, but are glad we did.
I do have a new appreciation for my entire GI tract, though.

Personally, what I get from Gulp is a greater appreciation my own GI tract and the ignoble history of humans completely misunderstanding it.
Professionally, I have all sorts of articles and search queries to keep students awake during PubMed tutorials!

A favorite line: "It takes an ill-advised mix of ignorance, arrogance, and profit motive to dismiss the wisdom of the human body in favor of some random notion you've hatched or heard branded as true."

A couple more questions for discussion:

Do you think the ick factor associated with digestion holds back medical research on important health concerns?

Do you think the light tone makes difficult subjects easier to read or downplay the importance of research?

Any random thoughts or observations anyone would like to share?

It's almost July! Let's get started on our next book: The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons by Sam Kean.

Added bonus, Sam has a library degree!

July went by way too fast! Did anyone have a chance to read about neuroscience?

I checked out the ebook from my library but on July 9 my mother died. 2 weeks later the ebook disappeared, natch. I spent the whole month unmotivated. Hoping to get back on track with August's book, whatever that one is.

Oh, is it Ghost Map?? I apparently read this back in 2011 although I don't remember it. LOL

Hi Bella! Yes, the book is Ghost Map. I'm only about 40 pages in myself and its not the best thing to read on a lunch break. How people not only lived, but thrived in 19th century cities is beyond me.

Absolutely loved Ghost Map -- and I had the opportunity to see the real Ghost Map when it was travelling and included in a cool exhibit at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore MD some years ago.

First time data was actually "visualized" to make a scientific argument -- that water, not "miasmas" or dirty poverty caused cholera. Enjoy -- I'm eager to see that the next Blinded by Science book selection is?

Dee wrote: "Absolutely loved Ghost Map -- and I had the opportunity to see the real Ghost Map when it was travelling and included in a cool exhibit at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore MD some years ago.

F..." The next book is "Shocked: Adventures in Bringing Back the Recently Dead" by David Casarett

Thoughts so far on Ghost Map? I've long wondered how people were so blind to disease transition and found the desciption of the miasma theory very informative.
Question: When I read the book, I think of how it informed public health, sanitation, and epidemiology. Is it a Geographical Information System (GIS) as well?

Annie wrote: "Thoughts so far on Ghost Map? I've long wondered how people were so blind to disease transition and found the desciption of the miasma theory very informative.
Question: When I read the book, I thi..."

Well....sure -- a beginning model for a GIS, certainly.

Final thoughts on Ghost Map - I thought the book was really interesting and the author made some connections that I would not have entertained on my own. On the whole, I have an enhanced appreciation for the history of epidemiology and deep respect for public health pioneers. That being said, I feel like the epilogue was a waste of time - I have no desire to learn more about the hisotry or future of urban planning.

Annie wrote: "A couple more questions for discussion:

Do you think the ick factor associated with digestion holds back medical research on important health concerns?
Absolutely not. Medical research and progress disregards ick factors. It's when the ick factor meets the prescribed treatment and the patient's perception of the magnitude of that ick that it gets dicey.

Do you think the light tone makes difficu..."

How is Shocked going so far? What was one of the more surprising things you learned?
I had no idea how CPR came about and was very surprised to learn about using smoke via anus as a stimulant. Hope that had a short lived time of practice.

Has anyone started on a fermentation-related book yet? I wasn't able to find "Froth!" at the library so I went with "A Comic-Book History of Beer." Have to say, beer is a lot more interesting than I thought.