Startling, disturbing, educational, mortifying -- this bizarre book has just about everything for the science nerd, true crime addict, history buff, and general non-fiction reader. There is a ton in here that explores the evolution of crime and crime-solving, and how physical, environmental and behavioural science informed this evolution, and assisted the discovery of detection practices. The devastation is palpable -- men and women left to run rampant in pursuit of their own needs in eras before (and in many cases after) the advent of DNA analysis, criminal profiling, etc. I was shocked and shocked again (and, admittedly, I skipped the section on animals...) The narrator is crisp and clear, and moves the reader through some pretty gruesome stuff with respect and sincerity. It's a fascinating and well-performed book.

I tried to listen to the audiobook but I didn't care for the author promoting his podcast and inserting references and links, which interrupted the narrative. I could have ignored this but the stories were too gruesome and upsetting to spend any more time listening so I decided to DNF.

I appreciate the advance copy and my apologies for not being able to finish it.

The chapters in this book cover the wide range of unethical, illegal, and just plain evil things that have been done in the name of science (or in the name of using science for fame and money). They range from unethical experimentation (you've heard of the Nazi doctors, but have you heard of the US Public Health Service's Tuskegee and Guatemalan syphilis studies?), to grave robbing; murder (and the use of scientific skills to try to cover up) to animal electrification and execution; fraud (falsification of police drug testing on a massive scale!) to over prescription (of LOBOTOMIES). There's a lot in here to humble scientists and remind us that humans are complex in their motivations and behaviors and can do great wrongs for reasons both venal and noble.

The stories were really well told and engaging, but this wasn't a perfect book. Other than the general theme of "scientists doing bad" there wasn't a whole lot connecting the stories in the book. At times it felt like a series of loosely connected magazine stories or podcast episodes - and in fact several chapters included a very annoying "for more information on this check out his podcast episode on my website" plug. The chapter on nuclear espionage didn't really feel like it fit with the rest of the book too either. That said, the stories here were educational (I hadn't heard of many of them before) and important..

I had a hard time getting into The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean but enjoyed what I did listen to. I think the ebook would be better, but I love the premise of this book.

Such an enjoyable read! This book discusses how crime and bad ethics has shaped science and continues to affect science today. In some cases, I feel like there was a missed opportunity for further discussion of inventions/discoveries that may be misattributed . For example, it is disputable whether chocolate milk was "invented" by Hans Sloane. Otherwise, very informative read. Sam Kean does a great job weaving all the stories together coherently and in a way that they are both fun to read and also presses readers to reflections.

Audio is definitely the way to go with books by this author. And this was a great reader, easy to listen to!

From the title and the cover image, I was expecting medical-focused stories. While there are a few doctors, the stories also include other scientists, naturalists, researchers, and technicians. The unethical lobotomies are here, but also pirates, traitors, murderers, and other criminals.

For readers who like the history of science, this will be a great read.

The Icepick Surgeon tells the stories of physicians and scientists who crossed moral and ethical boundaries due to their ambition. Some of these stories may be familiar if you follow popular science (Tuskegee syphilis study, lobotomies, and Annie Dookan), but others were new to me. I definitely will never think about Thomas Edison the same way now that I know about his animal cruelty. Listening to this book felt like listening to a podcast - Ben Sullivan did a great job with the narration.

I had trouble with some of the stories in this book due to the level of detail that Kean went into. The earlier stories especially were difficult to pay attention to at times, since they are far enough back in history that you don't connect to them in the same way as current events. I think some editing/condensing would have made them more interesting. I also didn't enjoy the repeated reference to Kean's podcast - those notes could have been given at the end of the chapter or the end of the book rather than peppered into the text. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Thank you to Hachette Audio/Little, Brown & Company for providing an ALC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a captivating read on ethical and moral aspects of some of the most breakthrough scientific achievements: from buccaneering naturalists, to bodysnatchers, to a war of currents, to a murder in Harvard, and an icepick lobotomy. It’s a humorous and informative book, that will be enjoyed by people who are interested in looking at scientific discoveries through ethical lenses. I especially loved the appendix which discussed the potential future unethical crimes/discoveries and or concerns.

"Sinful science" is an apt phrase to describe what this book is about.

An absorbing audio book with first-rate narration by Ben Sullivan. Each chapter of Sam Kean's nonfiction holds enough ammunition for a blockbuster movie, and listening to this audio version is like watching a TV series: you keep telling yourself "Just one more episode, just one more chapter!"
You need a strong stomach for some chapters (lobotomy with an ice pick!), and those sensitive to animal abuse might find certain parts disturbing - but these are true stories, with both the genius and cruelty of Humans.

I am grateful for an Advance Reading Copy of this entertaining and informative audio book for NetGalley and Hachette Audio.

I want to forgot this book and read it all over again. It was amazing! Sam Kean goes into deep details about everything from The Tuskegee study to Nazi experiments to future hypotheticals. I love how well thought out this book was. The author is careful to examine the effects of these experiments on the victims and what they went through. Ethics is a huge concern in the book and I appreciate the conversations and debates that will come from it.

This book is a great examination of horrible atrocities committed in the name of science. Also great if you're a true crime fan!

An excellent collection of stories of scientific discoveries and progress. The audiobook was well-narrated and engaging. I enjoyed the writing style of the author, it was informative but also humourous. As a scientist myself, I enjoyed listening to this and learned quite a lot as well.

*DISCLAIMER* I received a free copy of this book for review purposes. I only accept books I think I’d like because life is too short to waste on bad books. That said if I don’t like a book, I’ll say so, free or not. With that out of the way, onto the review:

This is an interesting book full of short true stories about scientists / doctors who weren’t such great people overall and who definitely violated some oaths.

Well written. Great narration. Hard to say much without spoiling things but I will say some of the included stories involve people you’ve probably heard of, while others were new to me.

If you find history, crimes, science, and / or human behavior interesting, you’ll like this one.

Ooh-wee. What a thrilling and fascinating read! This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it! The writing was engaging with interesting topics that is not lacking with well-researched information. I listened to the audiobook and the narration by Ben Sullivan was great!

The Icepick Surgeon explores medical and scientific breakthroughs and their dark history, and what makes scientists crossed the line in the name of science. There are about eleven chapters that cover topics like fraud, espionage, grave robbing, torture, malpractice, lobotomy and many more.

Some cases which many of us may be familiar are the infamous grave robbers, Hare and Burke, where the term "burking" was born; Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla on Wars on Current - and I personally think Edison was a nasty person - think of animal cruelty and electric chair; Cope and Marsh in the Bone Wars; Annie Dookhan on fraud; Walter Freeman on lobotomy, and many many more.

I also liked the topic on future crimes. What if AI starts murdering people? Can you commit murders in space since it has zero gravity?

If true crime and history are topics you enjoy, then you want to give this a read! It is gory, fascinating, and informative!


TW: Gory and graphic details, ableist language.


Pub. Date: July 13th, 2021


***Thank you Hachette Audio, author Sam Kean and NetGalley for this advance listening copy.***

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for providing me with a copy of this audioARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book details a series of dastardly deeds in the name of science, and some of them are heartbreaking. In particular, I found the chapters on Tuskegee, lobotomies, and genital surgery quite difficult to listen to so it’s worth checking the contents before you read.

I found it a well researching and interesting book. The narrator, Ben Sullivan, was very easy to listen to as well. The constant referrals to podcasts and webpages was intrusive at times but, on the other hand, I can see how hard it can be to direct listening readers(as opposed to eyeball readers) to further resources.

A book for anyone interested in true crime, malpractice, and history. It’s definitely worth a look!

Alright, so some of the chapters are so disgusting and scary! But also super interesting and insightful!

Almost every single chapter ends with my asking the questions “How was this allowed to happen?” “How did they get away with so much?”

But in the same breath, Sam Kean, really enforces the thoughts that ya these people did horrible, terrible things, but we also could be a part of something unethical. Which honestly is so true, every single day we are learning more and more, and different circumstances require different procedures. As science and technology changes, we’re getting new insights and through that learn more on what procedures are ethical and what aren’t. I find the author really tried to push that point and not have us think that everyone that was mentioned were monsters. Yes, they did, without a doubt take part in many horrible practices, but some of them did have good intentions.

“An evil person lurks inside of all of us and only if we recognize that fact can we hope to tame them.”- Carl Young

Basically, we shouldn’t undermine all scientists- we’re good people and we are trying our bests! As a scientist I promise, we’re really trying our best to help.


Thank You to Sam Kean and Hachette Audio, for the digital audio ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for a candid review!

This was a great nonfiction book by Sam Kean, my only issue was the podcast plugs. The Icepick Surgeon discusses the ethical and moral limits of science and gives us informative insight into some of the most flagrant cases of immoral behavior in science. Kean bases his arguments on the ethical principles that existed at the time, and not the ones we use today and he also does not defend their actions. Some of the stories can be a bit gruesome, but I loved the scientific history included in this novel. Highly recommend.

The narrator did well at keeping me entertained and did not make it boring.

Thank You NetGalley and publisher for allowing me access to this ARC; This is my voluntary review.

I don't usually go out of my way to pick up non-fiction reads but the blurb got me curious enough to give it a shot.
I was not disappointed. The stories that unfold seemed stranger than fiction because surely humans are able to control their desires for fame and recognition in the name of science and truth? As it turns out, that is not the case.

It was interesting to see the psychological gymnastic feats that the persons in this book preformed in order to justify the methods that they used to achieve their results. However, those results were often manipulated so that it wouldn't contradict the scientist's bias.

Only thing that made the audiobook difficult to digest was the chapters that included graphic animal abuse. But it wasn't done in order to get a reaction out of the reader but to tell very real actions done by some scientists.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the chance to listen to a very well done audiobook book and good job to those who worked on it.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, the stories inside were fascinating and gruesome, while also getting into the moral complexity of using research as ill-gotten gains. The Nazis are the most obvious to come to mind here, but there were lots of shady research experiments done in the past. The story that stuck out the most to me was the one from Winnipeg regarding the David Reimer case- I live in Winnipeg and I had never heard anything about this. This story was absolutely horrifying!

I did have some problems with this book, though. The author did use outdated language a few times; It mostly didn't bother me too much because due to the context, I could tell that Kean was trying to keep the language "as it was"- I believe he used Indian after referring to a group that had Indian in their name and their stated goal was to "kill Indians". While it's a term I would normally look down upon an author using today, I felt in the context to switch to "indigenous" would have felt awkward- but a disclaimer after the fact would have been nice, especially since many Americans still use the term colloquially, to help normalize it felt weird. The second irritating thing he did was to keep promoting his podcast. Such a weird thing to do. Maybe it's an audiobook thing only, and in the physical book, they are instead footnotes? Either way, it was jarring.

I recommend this book, but with some caveats. It can be pretty heavy, and it's possible the language may put you off it (or the constant podcast-advertising).

TLDR: The Road to Hell is Paved in Good Intentions.

We've all heard that they used to rob graves so that doctors-in-training could use them as cadavers. This book covers this and more, stemming all the way into the modern day.

This book was interesting overall, but I deeply disliked the constant reference to go see Podcast A or B. Because it comes in the form of the narrator listing off the URL. It reminds me of when someone prints off a document that used a hyperlink to link to other resources. I'm not able to really use this while I'm listening to a book, and can't really find in going back to it.

Format: audiobook
Author: Sam Kean ~ Title: The Icepick Surgeon ~ Narrator: Ben Sullivan
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

I enjoyed this audiobook a lot. It is full of dark deeds committed in the name of science. If you are sensitive about that, maybe it is not for you. But, if you like good and sometimes weird true history stories, then this is an excellent choice for you. Like the subtitle says, the author is writing about fraud, murder, piracy. But also about grave-robbing, animal cruelty, slavery, and more.

Most of these stories were new to me. I knew part of the story of the rivalry between Edison and Tesla and Edison's way to prove his idea is better. Since I first heard the story, I can't see Thomas Edison as a great inventor for what he is known today.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and I would recommend it to all who like unusual and not commonly known true stories. This was my first (audio)book by this author. I will make sure to read another one in the future. Also, the narration is very good and engaging.