The Great Discoveries in Medicine

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Sickness and health, birth and death, disease and cure: medicine and our understanding of the workings of our bodies and minds are an inextricable part of how we know who we are.



In this inspiring compendium, distinguished experts from around the world explain medicine's turning points and conceptual changes, and answer a series of key questions: How did the Plague influence the course of human history? What should complementary medicine's role be? How did an audacious self-experiment lead to a cure for stomach ulcers and a Nobel Prize?



The book is magnificently illustrated with a unique array of pictures, from beautiful Renaissance anatomical drawings to the very latest computer- generated images of viruses and photographs that reveal the hidden world within our bodies.



Topics include humors & pneumas, Islamic medicine, pathological anatomy, neuron theory, bedlam & beyond, parasites & vectors, hormones, the genetic revolution, defibrillators, the endoscope, medical robots, typhus, tuberculosis, smallpox, HIV, and more.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Coeditors of the Dictionary of Medical Biography, husband-and-wife team William (history of medicine, emeritus, Univ. Coll. London) and Helen Bynum (history of medicine, former lecturer, Univ. of Liverpool), along with an international team of 49 experts, guide readers through the history and heroes of modern medicine. This beautifully designed, quarto-sized volume features 382 illustrations from classical art to medieval engravings to early photographs to the latest examples of medical imaging and electronic microscopes. Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Greek medical traditions are covered both in the text and in the images, which enriches the dominant narrative of Western medical progress. Seven topical sections include chapters on medical devices, historically important diseases, drugs, surgery, and life-saving innovations such as vaccines, insulin, and dialysis. Complementary medicine is treated respectfully, although nutrition is omitted. Mental illness and psychoanalysis are also well covered. The book portrays medical progress as gained through incremental steps as well as broad strides, often arriving somewhere new unexpectedly, via outsiders who challenged the medical establishment. Verdict A striking and informative history, this book should be the go-to gift for many medical professionals this holiday season.-Kathy Arsenault, St. Petersburg, FL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

The Bynums, co-authors of the Dictionary of Medical Biography, have compiled a fascinating volume in which they explore the long history of medicine, with past and present seamlessly combined in each chapter. Every page includes lavish color illustrations in the form of photographs, paintings, period posters, and medical diagrams. Readers will learn about the origin of the word "bedlam," the long history of defibrillation, and the details of 19th century quinine production for malaria treatment. Illustrations include photographs of the first thermometer, lung cancer cell division, and a Nepalese diagram of the human body circa 1800. The volume is divided into sections that address different areas of medicine and studies of the body from the ancient world to modern times: tools, contagious diseases, remedies, surgery, and various technological innovations. Written for the layperson, this book will enthrall a large audience, from students learning about human biology to armchair medical scientists. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

CHOICE Review

Great Discoveries in Medicine is a heavily illustrated reference book outlining in 70 topic-specific chapters significant diseases, cures, and health-related scientific advances mainly in the history of Western medicine. Each separately authored chapter ranges from two to four pages in length. Although there are seven overarching categories ranging from "Discovering the Body" to "Medical Triumphs" into which the chapters are placed, there is no comprehensive treatment of how medicine came to be what it is today in developed countries. Editors William Bynum (emer., Univ. College London, UK; Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century, CH, Apr'95, 32-4468) and Helen Bynum (formerly, Univ. of Liverpool, UK) provide a British perspective. The volume lacks footnotes and, given the space allocated, subject coverage is not detailed. The typefaces used, especially in captions, are small. Includes a brief glossary and a short listing of recommendations, mostly books, for further reading. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers. R. D. Arcari University of Connecticut School of Medicine