Biography: science, technology and medicine Books

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn annotated English translation of the autobiography of Polish microbiologist Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884-1954), with a focus on his contributions to international public health. Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884-1954), one of the most prominent serologists of the twentieth century, discovered the inheritance and established the nomenclature of blood groups and opened the field of human population genetics. He also carried out groundbreaking research in the genetics of disease and immunology. Following World War II, he founded Poland's first Institute of Immunology in Wroclaw, which now bears his name. His autobiographical memoir, The Story of One Life, first published in Poland in 1946, immediately became a bestseller and has been reedited several times since. It is an outstanding account of a Holocaust survivor and a writer capable of depicting the uniqueness and the tragedy of countless individuals caught up in the nightmare of 1939-45. He recollects his time as a physician in the Serbian army in 1915 and his satisfaction as a scientist who helped rebuild Poland after the Treaty ofVersailles; in so doing the contrast between the world before and the world after World War II could not be starker. Hirszfeld wrote this book while in hiding after he escaped from the Warsaw ghetto in 1943; he buried the manuscript and retrieved it only after the war. Drawing on interviews with Hirszfeld's former students and family, as well as unpublished documents, this translation is annotated and has an introduction written by two scholars with unique qualifications to understand both the immediate setting in which Hirszfeld lived his life, and the broader implications of his work to the history of medicine. Marta A. Balinska is a writer and an international consultant in public health. William H. Schneider is professor of history at Indiana University.Trade ReviewBalinska and Schneider should be applauded. . . today's readers will find it an intriguing piece of cutting-edge experimental science, an example of the relation between political context and individual fate, while the contemporary story makes for a fascinating read. . . a major achievement. * COMPTES RENDUS *A thoughtful and highly historical read that belongs in any biography collection. * MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW *Fascinating on many accounts. . . The University of Rochester Press's Studies in Medical History series has just attained new heights. * FORWARD.COM *Table of ContentsForeword by Arthur E. Mourant Introduction by Marta A. Balinska and William H. Schneider Foreword by Ludwik Hirszfeld to the original 1946 edition University Years Assistantship in Heidelberg Sojourn in Zurich The Great War Armée d'Orient Home Again Life in Warsaw Life within the Institute Scientific Activities Scientific Meetings International Congress of Anthropologists in Amsterdam; Opening of Schools of Hygiene in Budapest and Zagreb The 1935 Blood Transfusion Congress in Rome The 1937 International Congress in Paris The 1937 International Cancer Congress in Brussels The 1939 General Pathology Congress in Rome Medical Academy in Paris; French Youth A Home in the Sun The Autumn Draws On Before the Storm The Siege of Warsaw Ousted The City of Death Lectures and Courses Typhus in the District The Health Council In the Shadow of the Church of All Saints Race or Tradition? The Beginning of the End Leap into the Unknown The Life of an Obscure Man My Evening Song My Greatest Defeat The Origins of This Book Extermination Camps The Last Upsurge of a Perishing Nation A Chased Animal The Turning Point for the Jewish Nation The Great Guilt Afterword Appendix: Biographical Annex of Frequently Cited Names

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe medical profession is rich in those who have made names for themselves outside of medicine. The fields of literature, exploration, business, sport, entertainment, and beyond abound with doctors whose interests lie outside medicine. This book, largely written by members of the medical profession, examines the efforts of doctors in non-medical fields. The doctors discussed here are those who are, or were, well-known to the public for their contributions to their non-medical fields of choice. In many cases, the public may have been unaware that a subject was medically qualified. This book provides wide-ranging and comprehensive biographical sketches of forty-two doctors who are best known to the public for their contributions to fields outside of medicine.Trade ReviewDoctors of Another Calling, edited by Cooper, is a type of reference book. More than 25 professional contributors, most with medical degrees, provide brief profiles of selected physicians as well as a few key individuals who studied medicine but made contributions in numerous other disciplines, such as literature and the arts, politics, and nonmedical science fields. The 40-plus biographies average about ten pages in length and are in chronological order starting with the apostle Luke. The youngest physician presented in the collection is contemporary novelist Khaled Hosseini. Other noteworthy individuals featured include Dante, Roger Bannister, Keats, Che Guevara, and A. J. Cronin, to mention a few. Each account covers the dual life of the male personage considered. No women are identified. Entries contain sources for further readings and portraits of the respective individuals. A valuable resource for history of medicine collections. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsCONTENTS Foreword (Howard Dean, MD) Acknowledgements (David K.C. Cooper) Table of Contents List of Illustrations Introduction (David K.C. Cooper) Chapter 1 St. Luke (1st century AD) –– The Most Widely-Read Physician (T. Jock Murray) Chapter 2 Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) –– Physician of the Soul (James E. Bailey) Chapter 3 Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) –– Celestial Physician (Michael E. Moran) Chapter 4 John Locke (1632–1704) –– Philosopher and Political Theorist (Barry Silverman) Chapter 5 Hans Sloane (1660–1753) –– The Ultimate Collector (Paul Berman) Chapter 6 Thomas Dover (1660–1742) –– Buccaneer on the High Seas (David K.C. Cooper) Chapter 7 Physician Patriots –– The Doctors Who Signed the American Declaration of Independence: Josiah Bartlett (1729–1795), Lyman Hall (1724–1790), Benjamin Rush (1745–1813), Matthew Thornton (1714–1803), Oliver Wolcott (1726–1797) (James R. Johnston) Chapter 8 Mungo Park (1771–1806) –– Explorer of West Africa (Robert P. Turk) Chapter 9 Thomas Young (1773–1829) –– The Smartest Person Ever? (Michael E. Moran) Chapter 10 Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869) –– And His Thesaurus (T. Jock Murray) Chapter 11 John Keats (1795–1821) –– Romantic Poet (Joseph B. VanderVeer Jr.) Chapter 12 Abraham Gesner (1797–1864) –– Father of the Petroleum Industry (T. Jock Murray) Chapter 13 Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) –– Writer and Philosopher (Charles S. Bryan) Chapter 14 David Livingstone (1813–1873) –– Explorer of Africa (Mabel L. Purkerson) Chapter 15 Alexander Borodin (1834–1887) –– Russian Composer (Paul Berman) Chapter 16 William Chester Minor (1834–1920) –– Murderer and Maestro of Words (Clyde Partin) Chapter 17 John Henry “Doc” Holliday (1851–1887) –– Tombstone Legend (Sandra W. Moss) Chapter 18 John Harvey Kellogg (1852–1943) –– Of Cereal Fame (J. Gordon Frierson) Chapter 19 Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) –– Creator of Sherlock Holmes (James G. Ravin) Chapter 20 Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) –– Russian Writer (Joseph B. VanderVeer Jr.) Chapter 21 Leonard Wood (1860–1927) –– Controversial Military Leader (J. Gordon Frierson and Daniel Morgan) Chapter 22 Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) –– Reformer and Revolutionary (J. Gordon Frierson) Chapter 23 Edward Wilson (1872–1912) –– Antarctic Explorer, Painter, and Naturalist (Jessie L. Ternberg) Chapter 24 W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) –– Teller of Tales (Angela Nicholls) Chapter 25 Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) –– Organist, Theologian, and Nobel Laureate (J. Michael Fuller) Chapter 26 Archibald Joseph (A. J.) Cronin (1896–1981) –– Best-selling Novelist (Peter E. Dans) Chapter 27 Jules Stein (1896–1981) –– Visionary Extraordinaire (Rob H. Stone and Marvin J. Stone) Chapter 28 Armand Hammer (1898–1990) –– Businessman Extraordinaire (David K.C. Cooper) Chapter 29 Henry Stallard (1901–1973) –– The 1924 Paris Olympics and Chariots of Fire (John D. Bullock) Chapter 30 Boyd Neel (1905–1981) –– Medicine or Music? (C. Peter W. Warren) Chapter 31 Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928–1967) –– Iconic Revolutionary (Amy L. Cooper) Chapter 32 Roger Bannister (1929– ) –– The Four-minute Mile (David K.C. Cooper) Chapter 33 Graham Chapman (1941–1989) –– From Medicine to Monty Python (David Cooper) Chapter 34 Abraham Verghese (1955– ) –– His Own Countries, His Own Profession (Joseph W. Lella) Chapter 35 Khaled Hosseini (1965– ) –– Novelist and Humanitarian (Joseph W. Lella) Medical students who did not complete their studies Chapter 36 Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) –– Polar Explorer (J. Michael Fuller) Chapter 37 Friedrich “Fritz” Kreisler (1875–1962) –– Violinist and Composer (J. Michael Fuller) Chapter 38 Lu Xun (1881–1936) –– The Pen Is Mightier Than the Scalpel (C. Peter W. Warren) Appendix 1 Who Could Have Been Chosen? (David K.C. Cooper) Appendix 2 Selected Physicians from Thomas Monro’s Collection of More Than Five- hundred Who Were Noted for Their Achievements Outside of Medicine (David K.C. Cooper) About the Contributors

Read more less

Book Synopsis“Ants are the most warlike of all animals, with colony pitted against colony,” writes E.O. Wilson, one of the world’s most beloved scientists, “their clashes dwarf Waterloo and Gettysburg.” In Tales from the Ant World, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Wilson takes us on a myrmecological tour to such far-flung destinations as Mozambique and New Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico’s Dauphin Island and even his parent’s overgrown backyard, thrillingly relating his nine-decade-long scientific obsession with over 15,000 ant species. Animating his scientific observations with illuminating personal stories, Wilson hones in on twenty-five ant species to explain how these genetically superior creatures talk, smell, and taste, and more significantly, how they fight to determine who is dominant. Wryly observing that “males are little more than flying sperm missiles” or that ants send their “little old ladies into battle,” Wilson eloquently relays his brushes with fire, army, and leafcutter ants, as well as more exotic species. Among them are the very rare Matabele, Africa’s fiercest warrior ants, whose female hunters can carry up to fifteen termites in their jaw (and, as Wilson reports from personal experience, have an incredibly painful stinger); Costa Rica’s Basiceros, the slowest of all ants; and New Caledonia’s Bull Ants, the most endangered of them all, which Wilson discovered in 2011 after over twenty years of presumed extinction. Richly illustrated throughout with depictions of ant species by Kristen Orr, as well as photos from Wilsons’ expeditions throughout the world, Tales from the Ant World is a fascinating, if not occasionally hair-raising, personal account by one of our greatest scientists and a necessary volume for any lover of the natural world.Trade Review"The world-renowned ant expert cleans out his desk, which—no surprise—contains many gems.... Pulitzer Prize–winning author and naturalist Wilson’s writing on broader scientific subjects have won him awards and no lack of controversy. Now 90, largely retired from fieldwork and scholarship but an indefatigable writer, he has assembled scraps of autobiography and anecdotes on his favorite insect.... the content and quality of the writing is consistently top-notch." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review"[Wilson] delivers an illuminating work filled with insights into his specialty subject: ants. . . . Wilson’s passion for his subject, for the scientific method, and for the natural world comes through clearly in this enjoyable survey." -- Publishers Weekly"Readers seeking an accessible natural history on an often-misunderstood insect will appreciate Wilson’s modest, conversational tone in this brief look at his lifetime of appreciating nature’s small wonders." -- Elissa Cooper - Library Journal" Praise for Edward O. Wilson “Wilson speaks with a humane eloquence which calls to us all.” —Oliver Sacks “In Mr Wilson ants have found not only their Darwin but also their Homer.” —The Economist “One of our grand masters of synthesis.” —Richard Rhodes “Part epic-inspired adventure story, part philosophy-of-life. . . . part ant life up close, part lyrical hymn to the wonders of earth. . . . yes, all of these.” —Margaret Atwood, New York Review of Books, on Anthill "

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFeatured in Kristen Hannah?s new book The Women What is the price of honor? It took ten years for Vietnam War nurse Diane Carlson Evans to answer that question?and the answer was a heavy one.In 1983, when Evans came up with the vision for the first-ever memorial on the National Mall to honor women who?d worn a military uniform, she wouldn?t be deterred. She remembered not only her sister veterans, but also the hundreds of young wounded men she had cared for, as she expressed during a Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C.: ?Women didn?t have to enter military service, but we stepped up to serve believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms and now we belong with them at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. If they belong there, we belong there. We were there for them then. We mattered.? In the end, those wounded soldiers who had survived proved to be there for their sisters-in-arms, joining their fight for honor in Evans? journey of combating unforeseen bureaucratic obstacles and facing mean-spirited opposition. Her impassioned story of serving in Vietnam is a crucial backstory to her fight to honor the women she served beside. She details the gritty and high-intensity experience of being a nurse in the midst of combat and becomes an unlikely hero who ultimately serves her country again as a formidable force in her daunting quest for honor and justice.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less