Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine

Thomas H. Lee

“A pioneering 1971 study on myocardial infarction revealed that a heart attack is a process rather than a sudden karate chop, and hence eminently treatable. Eugene Braunwald’s finding has helped to cut U.S. heart-attack death rates from more than 30% to less than 10%. The story of the cardiologist’s life and work, set against a background of rapid change in medicine, is told engagingly by medic Thomas Lee. Braunwald has lived several lives since his 1938 escape from Nazi-controlled Austria, from glory years at the U.S. National Institutes of Health to his active ninth decade.”—Nature

“An interesting retrospective about the changing nature of medicine and doctoring in American society through the well-told biography of one exemplary physician.”—Aaron Klink, Library Journal

“A splendid biography of the pioneer cardiovascular researcher. Lee is highly knowledgeable, a clear writer, and Eugene Braunwald is an absorbing subject—brilliant, resourceful, and idealistic. Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine is a compelling story, and I found myself increasingly fascinated.”—David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography

“Eugene Braunwald remains far too little-known. The span of his work in cardiology has transformed medicine and human life. And Tom Lee has wrapped Braunwald’s life story in the tale of how American medicine changed the world, giving us a book that is as engrossing as it is inspiring.”—Atul Gawande