Slow Ideas
Some innovations spread quickly. Atul Gawande asks, How do you share the ones that don’t?
On October 16, 1846, Morton administered ether through an inhaler. The patient only muttered in a semi-conscious state. Four weeks later, Bigelow published his report. By mid-December, surgeons in Paris and London were using it. By June, anesthesia had spread to most regions of the world.