Medical Firsts (ebook)

Argumento de Medical Firsts (ebook)

"An elegantly written account of the history of medicine from the era of the ancient Greeks to the present day, with superb chapters on landmark figures like Sigmund Freud, Louis Pasteur and Margaret Sanger. Both the fit and not so fit among us will find Adler's book about health and disease enlightening and entertaining. It's just what the doctor ordered." ?Jonah Raskin, chairman, Communication Studies Department, Sonoma State University.

"An exhilarating grand tour of medicine's major milestones. Robert Adler's impressively researched and highly entertaining book is a fitting tribute to the men and women whose triumphant legacy has been the amelioration of human pain and suffering." ?Marcus Chown, author of The Universe Next Door

"Medical Firsts compellingly shows that the heroic battle against disease is one of the greatest endeavors in human history." ?Victor McElheny, author of Watson and DNA: Making a Scientific Revolution

"MEDICAL FIRSTS is thoroughly researched, delightfully illustrated, and a joy to read from cove r to cover or chapter by chapter. One is continually drawn along as Adler reveals myriad medical mysteries by describing the scientists, the life and times during which they work, and the frustrations and rejections they experience in their quests for medical knowledge and discovery. This is a book for everyone to enjoy, whatever their interests." ?Barbara B. Frank, MD, FACG, Professor of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine

"Curious but busy readers will appreciate these 28 responsible yet gung ho short stories of mainstream medical history highlights -- a 4,600 year chronological account from Egypt?s Imhotep?s earliest writings to human-genome Craig Venter?s alleged "Hitlerian" impatience." ?Dr. Lynn Margulis

"Medical Firsts is a fast-paced, thrilling journey through the medical breakthroughs of the last three millennia. Superbly written, entertaining and poignant...Medical Firsts beautifully captures the thrills of medical discovery." ?Paul Thompson, Ph.D.,Associate Professor of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine & Brain Research Institute

"Medical Firsts is a great introduction to some of the high points in the history of medicine--clear, accessible writing, factual, and so up-to-date that some sections contain this season's cutting edge science. But what I liked most was Adler's ability to frame these stories in their social and political contexts and in the context of the lives of these pioneering scientists themselves. This is a terrific book." ?Robert Sapolsky, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, and author of A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons

ROBERT E. ADLER, PhD, is a psychologist, science journalist, and author of the critically acclaimed Science Firsts. He writes about a wide variety of scientific and medical topics for New Scientist, Nature, and other publications.0Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1. Hippocrates: A Principle and a Method.

2. Herophilus and Erasistratus: The Light That Failed.

3. Marcus Varro: The Germ of an Idea.

4. Soranus: The Birthing Doctor.

5. Galen of Pergamon: Combative Genius.

6. The Enlightened Mind of Abu Bakr al-Razi.

7. Ibn al-Nafis: Galen?s Nemesis.

8. Paracelsus: Renaissance Rebel.

9. Andreas Vesalius: Driven to Dissection.

10. Johann Weyer: A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World.

11. William Harvey and the Movements of the Heart.

12. Edward Jenner: A Friend of Humanity.

13. Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On: The Discovery of Anesthesia.

14. Antisepsis: Awakening from a Nightmare.

15. The Quiet Dr. Snow.

16. Pasteur and the Germ Theory of Disease.

17. Out of the Corner of His Eye: Roentgen Discovers X-rays.

18. Sigmund Freud?s Dynamic Unconscious.

19. Beyond Bacteria: Ivanovsky?s Discovery of Viruses.

20. The Prepared Mind of Alexander Fleming.

21. Margaret Sanger and the Pill.

22. Organ Transplantation: A Legacy of Life.

23. A Baby?s Cry: The Birth of In Vitro Fertilization.

24. Humanity Eradicates a Disease?Smallpox?for the First Time.

25. Cannibals, Kuru, and Mad Cows: A New Kind of Plague.

26. Self, Nonself, and Danger: Deciphering the Immune System.

27. Discovery Can?t Wait: Deciding the Human Genome.

28. Into the Future.

References and Further Reading.

Index.