Synopses & Reviews
In this wide ranging survey, W.F. Bynum examines the parallel development of biomedical sciences (such as physiology, pathology, bacteriology and immunology) and of clinical practice and preventive medicine in nineteenth-century Europe and North America. By examining the contributions of key individuals, such as Louis Pasteur, R.T.H. Laennec, Claude Bernard, Edwin Chadwick, and Rudolf Virchow, and important institutions, Professor Bynum shows how science played a vital role in transforming medical education and medical care, and how the medical profession ultimately benefited from the public visibility of medical science in the latter decades of the nineteenth century. Historians, sociologists, and health professionals should find much of interest in this book.
Review
"...a very fine and important book that will doubtless be judged as definitive. It is wonderfully written, well organized and witty, and rests on impeccable scholarship resulting from an exhaustive examination of the literature." Kenneth Kiple, Nature"This is an excellent history of medicine, placing a familiar story in a wider context and doing justice to its genuine excitements." Anne Crowther, Times Literary Supplement"...This important piece of scholarship enriches the understanding of the evolution of medicine and the process of translating scientific knowledge into effective curative and preventive measures." G. Eknoyan, Science &Technology"...brings together and makes accessible a vast amount of recent research. Discussions are lucid and often illuminating. The book moreover is available in a relatively inexpensive paperback format that should make it more attractive for teaching purposes. Anyone interested in the modern history of medicine will find this to be a valuable introduction to the field." George Weisz, JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association"...well-written scholarly study...." Advances: The Journal of Mind-Body Health"...a well-crafted survey of nineteenth-century medical science. It contains lots of interesting material, and it tackles the subject from a variety of angles that, if they lend the book a certain looseness, also make it useful for introducing students to a variety of topics." Thomas Broman, Journal of the History of Medicine"Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century is a text that is highly recommended as an introduction to history of medicine for undergraduates. It should also be read by all historians of medicine for its thoughtful and original analysis of a major historiographical issue." Tony A. Appel, ISIS"A particular strength of the study is the description of how technology began to work its way into medical practice....This superb and masterful synthesis will be useful to all who read it." Howard Markel, Technology and Culture"...the book...is both a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the subject, and the strength of the book for the specialist reader is as a work in comparative history." Victorian Studies
Synopsis
W. F. Bynum argues that 'modern' medicine is built upon foundations established between 1800 and the beginning of World War I.
Synopsis
By examining the contributions of key individuals, this text shows how science played a vital role in transforming medical education and care, and how the profession ultimately benefited from the public visibility of medical science in the latter decades of the nineteenth century.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Medicine in 1790; 2. Medicine in the hospital; 3. Medicine in the community; 4. Medicine in the laboratory; 5. Science, disease, and practice; 6. Medical science goes public; 7. Doctors and patients; 8. Conclusion: did science matter?; Bibliographical essay; Sources of quotations; Index.