Books By Lindsey Fitzharris - Author

Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2018

Lindsey Fitzharris received her doctorate in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology at the University of Oxford and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Wellcome Institute. She is the creator of the popular website The Chirurgeon's Apprentice, and she writes and presents the YouTube series Under the Knife. She has written for the Guardian, the Lancet, the New Scientist, Penthouse, the Huffington Post and Medium, and appeared on PBS, Channel 4 UK, BBC and National Geographic.

On The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine: 

I like to say that The Butchering Art is a love story between science and medicine. It details the first time that a scientific principle (germ theory) was applied to medical practice through the development of antisepsis. Joseph Lister was a visionary surgeon who persevered with his work despite a prevailing climate of scepticism and denial. In this way, his story is more relevant today than it has ever been. 

My intention when I set out to write The Butchering Art was to ensure that Lister’s name would become just as familiar to people as those of Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Marie Curie. Lister revolutionised surgery and made safe procedures that had been perilous for centuries. I’m so pleased to see his achievements garnering the attention they deserve. I’m also humbled to find myself in such talented company as a shortlisted author for the Wolfson Prize, especially as this will further help shine a light on Lister’s legacy.