Persuading old institutions to adopt new technologies hard, and when the Establishment turns against you, even the best ideas can be relegated to the ranks of side-shows.
In the 19th century, premature babies stood only about a 50 per cent chance of surviving due to their inability to maintain homeostasis. The first baby incubator was developed from Stéphane Étienne Tarnier’s idea that this might be controlled by isolation and a rigorous hygiene and feeding regime in a warm, humid environment. Tarnier introduced his prototype incubators, based on poultry incubators he’d seen at the Paris zoo, to the Paris Maternité in 1881. Simple devices – wooden boxes with glass lids, lined with hot water bottles – they reduced infant mortality at the hospital by 28 per cent.
Soon more sophisticated machines appeared. Alexander Lion of Nice’s 1891 design was a life support system with an iron frame, glass doors in the front, and hot water circulating through a pipe...