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Cotter’s medical journey is interspersed with a mini-history of the science for treating deafness — from the Greeks, whose attempted cure involved “wool soaked in turpentine,” to King John VI of Portugal, who had a special “acoustical chair” with hidden sound-amplifying channels that visitors had to kneel before, to the “speaking trumpets” that were popular until laws cracked down on people with disabilities starting in the 1860s.

When Dom Pedro's father, King John VI, returned to Portugal in 1821, he left the 22-year-old to rule Brazil as regent.

Founded in 1818 by King John VI of Portugal, the National Museum was Brazil’s oldest scientific institution and served as a backdrop to some of the turning points in the nation’s history.

Portugal was in decline, and with the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, there were calls for King John VI, also known as Dom João, to come back.

Named for her maternal grandmother, who had been daughter of the court physician of John VI of Portugal, Maury—who died in 1952—came from an accomplished, scientific family.