A Short History of Medicine

Description

Immerse yourself in the history of medicine, a colorful story of skill, serendipity, mistakes, moments of genius, and dogged determination. From ancient ideas about anatomy to today's sophisticated gene therapies and robotic surgery, A Short History of Medicine combines riveting storytelling and beautiful images, historical accounts and lucid explanations, to illuminate the story of medicine through the ages. Packed with photographs, diagrams, and visual analyses, this book illustrates the science, equipment, trial and error, and great medical practitioners central to this extraordinary story. Witness early, bloody, anesthetic-free operations; see the first crude surgical instruments; trace the mapping of the circulatory system; follow the painstaking detective work that led to the decoding of the human genome; and understand the role that potions, cures, therapies, herbal medicines, and drugs have played in the human quest to tame and conquer disease, injury, and death. A Short History of Medicine is an engrossing tale of drama and discovery that celebrates the milestones of medical history across generations and cultures. Contents Introduction BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS TO 900 Prehistoric Medicine Trepanning The Priest-Physicians of Egypt Surgery in Ancient Egypt Hippocrates and Greek Medicine Galen and the Rule of Rome Roman Surgical Tools The Dark Ages in Europe The Bubonic Plague The Alchemists Traditional Eastern Medicine Ayurveda Native American Medicine Shamanism African and West Asian Traditions THE RISE OF SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE 900–1820 Al Rhazi, Ibn Sina, and the Arab Revival The Four Humors Schools of Medicine and Life Vesalius and the Anatomists Paré and the Barber-Surgeons Bloodletting Harvey and Blood Circulation The Microscope Revolution Early Microscopes Conquering the Dreaded Pox Eradicating Smallpox MEDICINE IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE 1820–1920 Women in Medicine Anesthesia Early Anesthetics John Snow and Epidemiology Florence Nightingale Measuring Blood Pressure Pasteur and Microbiology The Horror of Rabies Lister and Antiseptics Mother and Baby Medicine The Germ Theory of Disease Viruses in Action Medicine and the Mind MODERN MEDICINE 1920–2000 Blood Types and the Sugar Disease Receiving Blood The First Antibiotic Antibiotics at Work The Fight Against Cancer Deadly Cells New Parts for Old Implants and Prostheses Medicine and Care for the Elderly Vaccination Comes of Age How Immunization Works The First Transplants A New Heart Imaging the Body Seeing Inside the Body The Birth of IVF Complementary and Alternative Medicines Potential Pandemics Battling HIV and AIDS GENES AND FUTURE DREAMS 2000–PRESENT Genetics and Medicine The Genetic Code Robots and Telemedicine Emergency Medicine A Shock to the System Stem Cell Therapy Dignity and Death Medicine in the Third Millennium Mosquito-Borne Malaria Glossary Bibliography Index Acknowledgments