NOVA: STRANGE SLEEP (TV)
Summary
One in this series of science documentaries. This program recreates the discovery of anesthesia in the nineteenth century.
Highlights of this program include dramatizations of the following events: Dr. John Warren, a leading surgeon of the 1800s, amputating a man's leg without the use of an anesthetic; a seminar at which nitric oxide -- laughing gas -- is introduced to the public; Horace Wells, a dentist, experimenting with nitric oxide as an anesthetic; William Morton, a colleague of Wells, experimenting with ether on his dog; Dr. J.Y. Simpson, an obstetrician, giving ether to one of his patients to reduce pain; Dr. Simpson testing the effects of various chemicals on himself and his assistant; and Dr. William Halsted, a surgeon, working to improve the sanitary conditions of operating rooms, experimenting with cocaine, and performing surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Also included is footage of a twentieth century anesthesiologist at work.
Acquisition and cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS WGBH Boston, MA
- DATE: April 7, 1974 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:35
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:11654
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Science; Surgery; Medicine
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1974-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Michael Ambrosino … Executive Producer
- Francis Gladstone … Producer, Director, Writer
- Elsa Rassbach … Associate Producer, Director, Writer
- Janet Kreiling … Researcher
- Michael Waters … Narrator
- Susanne Learmonth … Cast, the Anesthesiologist
- Oliver Cope … Cast, Dr. John C. Warren
- Edward Seldin … Cast, Horace Wells
- Terrence Hayes … Cast, William Morton
- Jerome Lettvin … Cast, "Professor" Colton
- Martin Cameron … Cast, Dr. J.Y. Simpson
- John Griffin … Cast, the Country Doctor
- Stuart George … Cast, Dr. William Halsted
- William Wood … Cast, Dr. Hall