Shocked (eBook)

As a young medical student, Dr. David Casarett was inspired by the story of a two-year-old girl named Michelle Funk. Michelle fell into a creek and was underwater for over an hour. When she was found she wasn’t breathing, and her pupils were fixed and dilated. But after three hours of persistent work, a team of doctors and nurses was able to bring her back.If Michelle could come back after three hours of being dead, what about twelve hours? Or twenty-four? What would it take to revive someone who had been frozen for one thousand years? And what does blurring the line between "e;life"e; and "e;death"e; mean for society?In Shocked, Casarett chronicles his exploration of the cutting edge of resuscitation and reveals just how far science has come. He takes us to a conference of "e;cryonauts"e; who want to be frozen after they die, a dark room full of hibernating lemurs in North Carolina, and a laboratory that puts mice into a state of suspended animation. The result is a spectacular tour of the bizarre world of doctors, engineers, animal biologists, and cryogenics enthusiasts trying to bring the recently dead back to life.Fascinating, thought-provoking, and funny, Shocked is perfect for those looking for a prequel—and a sequel—to Mary Roach’s Stiff, or for anyone who likes to ponder the ultimate questions of life and death.