Connect with PBS on Facebook Connect with PBS on Twitter. Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, is nothing less than an account of the 4,000-year quest to understand and treat cancer, a malady that continues to plague us over the centuries. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer researcher and physician. truly emerges, as a nineteenth-century surgeon once wrote in a book’s frontispiece, as “the emperor of all maladies, the king of terrors.” A disclaimer: in science and medicine, where the primacy of a discovery carries supreme weight, the mantle of inventor or discoverer is assigned by a community of scientists and researchers. Themes of Cancer. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Themes Siddhartha Mukherjee This Study Guide consists of approximately 31 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Emperor of All Maladies. In Victorian times, the weakening and wasting of tuberculosis seemed to capture the times. Pushing the envelope of discovery is the great theme of cancer research. Cancer as the Disease of the Atomic Age Mukherjee describes cancer as the disease of the atomic age. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer is a book written by Siddhartha Mukherjee, an Indian-born American physician and oncologist. Label Copy to Clipboard Click to copy embed code for video. As that disease faded, cancer became the emblematic […] Themes of Cancer. Close. Very enthusiastically praised by most of the major newspapers and news magazines, The Emperor of all Maladies was selected by both The New York Times and TimeMagazine as one of the top 10 books of the year. He writes that each age has a disease that captures its zeitgeist, or prevailing ethic. Width in pixels px Height in pixels px Copied to your clipboard Unable to copy. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. Pushing the envelope of discovery is the great theme of cancer research. Thank you! Problems Playing Video? Connect with PBS on Instagram. Clip: Season 1 | 5m 24s One great theme in cancer over the last hundred years is the bravery, the heroism of scientists, doctors and their patients, who have refused to accept the staus quo. Published on 16 November 2010 by Scribner, it won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction: the jury called it "an elegant inquiry, at once clinical and personal". Your continuing support helps make WQED possible.