Synopses & Reviews
You're probably breaking the law right now-and don't even know it. Did you know...
? Naples, Italy, enforces laws for what constitutes real pizza, and "pizza police" visit restaurants to crack down on unlawful pies?
? In West Virginia it is a crime to display or possess a red or black flag?
? It is illegal to sell stuffed articles depicting female breasts within a thousand feet of any county highway in California?
? Spherical fishbowls have been banned in Rome since 2004?
There are hundreds of bizarre laws that we could be breaking at any moment. What exactly are we doing that we shouldn't be doing, and what happens if we get caught? In this engaging and insightful collection, Nathan Belofsky takes us on a journey of eclectic, unexpected, and bizarre laws from around the world.
Written by a practicing lawyer with an eye for his profession's most unusual quirks, The Book of Strange and Curious Legal Oddities offers a delightful look at the legal system's peculiarities through the ages. From laws that crack down on how we eat, look, and have sex, to real legal battles involving litigious chimpanzees, you'll start wondering whether you're really the law-abiding citizen you claim to be.
Synopsis
Strange Medicine casts a gimlet eye on the practice of medicine through the ages that highlights the most dubious ideas, bizarre treatments, and biggest blunders. From bad science and oafish behavior to stomach-turning procedures that hurt more than helped,
Strange Medicine presents strange but true facts and an honor roll of doctors, scientists, and dreamers who inadvertently turned the clock of medicine backward:
The ancient Egyptians applied electric eels to cure gout.
Medieval dentists burned candles in patients mouths to kill invisible worms gnawing at their teeth.
Renaissance physicians timed surgical procedures according to the position of the stars, and instructed epileptics to collect fresh blood from the newly beheaded.
Dr. Walter Freeman, the worlds foremost practitioner of lobotomies, practiced his craft while traveling on family camping trips, cramming the back of the station wagon with kidsand surgical toolsthen hammering ice picks into the eye sockets of his patients in between hikes in the woods.
Strange Medicine is an illuminating panorama of medical history as youve never seen it before.
About the Author
Nathan Belofsky is an attorney specializing in litigation. He has a bachelor of arts in politics from Brandeis University and a law degree from Cardozo School of Law. He lives in New York City.