Book Review: The Icepick Surgeon

The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sam Kean


The only time I remember enjoying a book about science history this much was when I read Sam Kean’s other book, The Disappearing Spoon, which is full of exciting tales from the periodic table. I don’t know how he finds these delectable tidbits from science history, but the end result is fascinating. This book has a theme of ethics and scientific discovery, and it’s arranged chronologically, beginning with a naturalist whose abolitionist tendencies are eroded over time by the necessary evil of associating with slavers.

One of the most interesting things about the stories in this book is how Kean explores the complexity of ethics. You can be on the right side of history with regards to de-stigmatizing HIV, for example, and still do horrifically unethical things like deliberately infect people with STDs. He talks about infamous stories such as the Nazi’s human experiments and Tuskegee syphilis study and others I’d never heard of like the Burke and Hare murders. This is definitely a must-read for people who are interested in history, science, ethics, or just non-fiction with high drama.




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