Greatest Benefit to Mankind : A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present

English

Series: The Norton History of Science Ser.

ISBN: 0393319806

EAN: 9780393319804

Category: Medical / History/Social Science / Disease & Health Issues/

Publisher: Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W.

Release Date: 10/31/1999

Synopsis: Hailed as a remarkable achievement ( Boston Sunday Globe) and as a triumph: simultaneously entertaining and instructive, witty and thought-provoking . . . a splendid and thoroughly engrossing book ( Los Angeles Times), Roy Porters charting of the history of medicine affords us an opportunity as never before to assess its culture and science and its costs and benefits to mankind. Porter explores medicines evolution against the backdrop of the wider religious, scientific, philosophical, and political beliefs of the culture in which it develops, covering ground from the diseases of the hunter-gatherers to todays threat of AIDS and ebola, from the clearly defined conviction of the Hippocratic oath to the muddy ethical dilemmas of modern-day medicine. Offering up a treasure trove of historical surprises along the way, this book has instantly become the standard single-volume work in its field ( The Lancet). The authors perceptiveness is, as usual, scalpel-sharp; his manner genially bedside; his erudition invigorating. - Simon Schama

Awards: Los Angeles Times Book Prizes – null  Los Angeles Times Book Prizes – null  Los Angeles Times Book Prizes – null 

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Greatest Benefit to Mankind : A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Paperback

Height: 1.22 inches

Width: 6.5 inches

Length: 9.5 inches

Weight: 34.46 oz

Pages: 872