TO HEAL THE HEART OF A CHILD

What a woman this was. Creative—she figured out how to help ``blue'' babies by constructing an aductus arteriosus, saving thousands and presaging modern cardiac surgery; tenacious—she coped with dyslexia before it was named, and persevered in practice after suddenly losing her hearing, ``listening'' with her hands; barrier-breaking—a female pioneer at Johns Hopkins when Harvard wouldn't admit women; savior of a generation of babies through her warnings about thalidomide. Taussig's majestic career capped the accomplishments of an illustrious family—her father is often called the father of modern economics; her grandfather was a Civil War doctor. Free-lancer Baldwin occasionally bogs her narrative down with extraneous detail, but she still relays Taussig's personality and the flavor and excitement of her career. Who can beat the story of a European family with a child in need, who read about Taussig's operation in an American newspaper used as wrapping paper for mailing? Bibliography. B&w photos; index. (Nonfiction. 12+)