A Brief History of Disease, Science and Medicine: From the Ice Age to the Genome Project |
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A Brief History of Disease, Science and Medicine: From the Ice Age to the Genome Project
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by Michael Kennedy
Sales Rank: 300713
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$18.49
At Amazon
on 6-16-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 528 pages
Published by: Writers' Collective January 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1932133593
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1932133592
Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
Weighs: 2 pounds
Reader Reviews
This is both an extremely ambitious and enormously entertaining history of the development of the medical treatment of human beings throughout the ages. It is ambitious in that the author attempts to survey the field from prehistory until the present day, and to do so in less than five hundred pages. The scope means that at times things of necessity have to be left out. For instance, the great story in science as a whole (and in medicine in particular) between classical antiquity and the early 17th century is the growth and eventual downfall of Aristotelianism, which provided the scientific background for nearly every branch of scientific endeavor during that time. Many of the key events of that story are briefly recounted, but many are not (e.g., allied discoveries by Galileo in astronomy that refuted Aristotelian assumptions). Still, given the limitations of space, this is an admirable treatment of the subject. To deal with every issue comprehensibly would have expanded dramatically the size of the book, which would have given the lie to the title. My one serious objection to the book is that the book does not have an overarching narrative structure. I'm not always sure what particular story is being told. Nonetheless, it is impossible to come away from the book without a far deeper appreciation for the remarkable journey medicine has undertaken over the centuries. It also makes me enormously grateful that I am alive today, and not in some previous century. Above all, this is a fun, engaging, thoroughly entertaining book. Although the book sometimes veers towards the encyclopedic, the style at all times is anecdotal. The author loves his subject, and especially delights in the quirkier side of things. There are mountains of fascinating trivia, and as a lover of great trivia I was constantly saying to myself, "Wow, I didn't know that!" Some of the more fascinating bits of the book are when Kennedy discusses famous individuals and the way in which disease may have affected them, such as Ivan the Terrible or Henry VIII. Even in modern medical discoveries, he has an eye for the unusual. This is also, however, a very educational book. The amount of information contained in its pages is fairly staggering. One great use for the book is to read through the sections on a particular epoch if one is engaged in historical reading. But the book is more than a collection of interesting facts. The reader gains an appreciation for the way that medical practice has developed over the centuries. For instance, Kennedy discusses how before the invention of anesthesia speed was a highly esteemed virtue in a surgeon. Surgery was performed quickly, and as a result there was less of an emphasis on working carefully and carefully suturing. But with the development of anesthesia, surgery slowed down, and surgeons took more care to operate with great care and to minimize injury to tissue. This is merely one random example out of thousands. One of the most appealing aspects of the book is the deeply personal style of the author. Closely aligned with his love of the anecdotes and trivia is his eye for the humorous side of things. He also writes with a personal touch. In discussing some medical condition, he will mention that he had had such a case himself at such and such a point, or that someone had devised a form of pediatric surgery, and he later had as a patient the second recipient ever of that treatment. Or he will mention that his mother's uncle had a certain medical condition, or aunt was a nurse for a famous doctor. This truly is a book suited for a variety of audiences. I have a strong interest in history, and as a result I enjoyed most the first half, in part because I had the background to understand everything there pretty easily. I struggled a bit more in the second half as medicine became more specialized, but I imagine that this half would be of greater interest to medical students or physicians. The main thing that I want to emphasize is that both the medical student and the educated nonspecialist will equally find much to enjoy in the book. Similarly, one could also employ the book merely as a reference work, or read it several chapters at a time. It is rare, however, that a book can be so educational over such a wide-ranging subject, and entertain so thoroughly at the same time.
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A Brief History of Disease, Science and Medicine: From the Ice Age to the Genome Project
Available from Amazon
Price: $18.49
Updated on 6-16-2008.
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