Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine - Paperback

by Mel Boring (Author), Leslie Dendy (Author), C. B. Mordan (Illustrator)

It was August 27, 1885. In a hospital in Lima, Peru, a student named Daniel Carrión was preparing to infect himself with a dreaded disease . . . He had a small, sharp lancet ready . . . Carrión's friends and teacher from the medical school thought it was a bad idea. They knew Carrión was eager to learn more about this mysterious disease.
But were the risks worth it?

Science and medicine from the inside out-ten engrossing stories of self-experimentation

Who are these "guinea pig scientists"? Searching for clues to some of science's and medicine's bigger (and sometimes stranger) questions, they are all the men and women who devoted their lives to help find the answers. Spanning from the 1770s to the present--and uncovering the science behind digestion, the spread of yellow fever, the development of the first heart catheter, and more--their ten stories are at once scientifically detailed and fascinatingly personal.

Author Biography

Leslie Dendy has been teaching biology and chemistry for nearly thirty years. She is the author of Tracks, Scats, and Signs and lives with her husband in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Mel Boring is the author of a number of nonfiction picture books, as well as a novel. He lives in Rockford, Iowa, with his family.

C. B. Mordan is the illustrator of several books for young readers, including Lost: A Story in String. He lives near Kansas City, Missouri.