Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood PDF

Rating: Author: Bill Hayes ISBN : Product Detai New from Format: PDF

Download for free medical books PRETITLE Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood POSTTITLE from mediafire, rapishare, and mirror link “We’re born in blood. Our family histories are contained in it, our bodies nourished by it daily. Five quarts run through each of us, along some sixty thousand miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries.”
–fromFive Quarts

In the national bestseller Sleep Demons, Bill Hayes took us on a trailblazing trip through the night country of insomnia. Now he is our guide on a whirlwind journey through history, literature, mythology, and science by means of the great red river that runs five quarts strong through our bodies.

Profusely illustrated, the journey stretches from ancient Rome, where gladiators drank the blood of vanquished foes to gain strength and courage, to modern-day laboratories, where high-tech machines test blood for diseases and dedicated scientists search for elusive cures. Along the way, there will be world-changing triumphs: William Harvey’s discovery of the circulation of the blood; Antoni van Leeuwenhoek’s advances in making the invisible world visible in the early days of the microscope; Dr. Paul Ehrlich’s Nobel-Prize-winning work in immunology; Dr. Jay Levy’s codiscovery of the virus that causes AIDS. Yet there will also be ignorance and tragedy: the widespread practice of bloodletting via incision and the use of leeches, which harmed more than it healed; the introduction of hemophilia into the genetic pool of nineteenth-century European royalty thanks to the dynastic ambitions of Queen Victoria; the alleged spread of contaminated blood through a phlebotomist’s negligence in modern-day California.

This is also a personal voyage, in which Hayes recounts the impact of the vital fluid in his daily life, from growing up in a household of five sisters and their monthly cycles, to coming out as a gay man during the explosive early days of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, to his enduring partnership with an HIV-positive man.

As much a biography of blood as it is a memoir of how this rich substance has shaped one man’s life, Five Quarts is by turns whimsical and provocative, informative and moving. It will get under your skin.


From the Hardcover edition.Direct download links available for PRETITLE Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood [Kindle Edition] POSTTITLE

• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• File Size: 1191 KB
• Print Length: 304 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0345456874
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (January 25, 2005)
• Sold by: Random House LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC2RLS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #704,053 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood PDF

Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood by Bill Hayes started because the author cut his finger. What followed is fascinating nonfiction that explores blood through history, literature, science and mythology.

I must admit that when I first saw the book I wasn't particularly interested. I couldn't imagine the subject of blood to be anything but dull and even repulsive. Finally, curiosity got the best of me, and I picked it up and began reading. And I continued reading.

I couldn't believe how much there is to know about that vital fluid that runs through every human body. If you're interested in trivia, or find unique things that you've never considered fascinating before, this book is for you. I will never view my wedding ring or barbershop poles in the same way again.

Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood proves that even a seemingly obscure topic can be enthralling.

By Armchair Interviews

Author Hayes mixes science, philosophy and a lot of personal intimacy in this interesting book on blood. A strange subject (though not the strangest around--a recent bestseller is about cadavers.) We have five quarts of the red stuff--hence the title.

The book starts with Bill getting a cut. But then we go on a journey about hemophila and history (the royal house of Great Britain) and we learn about bloodletting, blood banks, and ultimately the AIDS epidemic.

While I would prefer more science and less personal information in a treatise on a scientific subject, that's just me (I studied biology and immunology for quite some years.) But for a non-science-steeped reader, this is a fascinating look at the stuff of life. Recommended, though not for the squeamish.

By Joanna Daneman #1 HALL OF FAME TOP 10 REVIEWER VINE VOICE