Synopses & Reviews
The
Story of Medicine is a revelatory work of popular social and medical history by one of the finest medical historians in the world. With its humanist appeal and core of scientific knowledge, it is an essential volume (and the perfect gift) for anyone interested in the human condition.
Medicine, both as a science and as an art, encompasses some of the greatest of all human achievements. The development of medicine and medical practices—the story of which stretches from ancient times up to the present and includes cultures spread around the globe—is a reflection of our noblest qualities. In a series of accessible, informative essays, medical historian Mary Dobson charts the ways in which we have grappled with, and in many cases overcome, disease and injury over several millennia.
Richly illustrated with dazzling art, illustrations, and photographs and written in the most accessible possible language, this volume is filled with numerous sidebars that detail amazing episodes in medical history, landmark events and their legacy, poignant accounts of some of the most harrowing cases, astonishing curiosities, and much more.
Review
PRAISE FOR MARY DOBSON'S
DISEASE"An amazing book...written in clear and concise chapters and free of scientific jargon."--Western Daily Press
Synopsis
In
The Story of Medicine, esteemed medical historian and author Mary Dobson charts the ways in which we have fought with disease and injury over several millennia--from the â??humors' of Hippocrates to Edward Jenner and the eradication of smallpox; from Florence Nightingale's nursing reforms to Crick and Watson's DNA chain.
Beautifully realized with paintings, illustrations and photographs, this volume is filled with the trauma as well as the triumph of medical science: including the pain of the surgeon's knife in the centuries before anesthetics, the body-snatchers of the nineteenth century, and the realities of battlefield surgery. Moving and revealing, here is a fascinating study of the glorious--and sometimes dangerous--pursuit of medical science.
About the Author
Mary Dobson is a graduate of Oxford University, where she is also an honorary member of Green College, and a Research Associate of the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College, London. In addition to her career as an author of books about medical history, she is an expert in the history of tropical and infectious diseases, with a particular interest in the relationships between disease and environment. Dobson lives in London.