Description
Book SynopsisThe Cambridge History of Medicine surveys the rise of medicine in the West from classical times to the present. Covering both the social and scientific history of medicine, this 2006 volume traces the chronology of key developments and events, engaging with the issues, discoveries, and controversies that have characterized medical progress.
Trade Review"It is a book by historians about the social and scientific history of medicine. It gives special attention to the past 200 years but also surveys primitive medicine, dating to prehistory. The book is both lucid and readable and ought to be of wide interest." New England Journal of Medicine, Robert N. Tyson, M.D., University of Washington
"Porter and the other authors of the volume try to present a balanced view of modern medicine, pointing to both its achievements, such as the triumph over contagious diseases, and its problems, such as its overwhelming cost. There is much in this book that is interesting and worth learning about." H-Histsex, Robin Ganev, Department of History, University of Regina
Table of ContentsIntroduction Roy Porter; 1. The history of disease Kenneth F. Kiple; 2. The rise of medicine Vivian Nutton; 3. What is disease? Roy Porter; 4. Primary care Edward Shorter; 5. Medical science Roy Porter; 6. Hospitals and surgery Roy Porter; 7. Drug treatment and the rise in pharmacology Miles Weatherall; 8. Mental illness Roy Porter; 9. Medicine, society, and the state John Pickston; 10. Looking to the future (1995) Geoff Watts; Addendum: looking to the future revisited Geoff Watts.
