A learned, lively history of medicine “from Stone Age to New Age, from Galen to Gallo.— Unable to find a modern, readable, one-volume history of medicine for his students, Porter (A Social History of Madness, 1988, etc.), of London’s Wellcome Institute for the History of Science, has filled that gap admirably with this fascinating survey of medical theory and practice through the centuries. While he looks at medicine in early societies, and Islamic, Indian, and Chinese medicine, his focus is on Western medicine, which he finds uniquely powerful and now uniquely global. He explores its foundations in ancient Greece and Rome, the impact of the new science of the Renaissance, and the initial failure of biomedical findings to deliver effective new therapies. The accomplishments of individuals are here—Harvey, Koch, Pasteur, Lister, Freud., etc.—but Porter does not tell history simply through great men. The influence of French hospitals on medical education; how German laboratories created a new pathology, physiology, and pharmacology; the development of specialization; public health measures; medicine’s role in the expansion of imperial powers—all are included. In stylish prose, he paints a panoramic picture filled with memorable anecdotes, apt quotes, startling statistics, and sobering conclusions. At intervals he returns to specific topics, such as treatment of the insane, to demonstrate the shifts taking place in both social attitudes and medical practice. Approaching modern times, Porter reports on the great strides made in biomedical research, paying special attention to neurology, endocrinology, cancer, cardiology, genetics, and immunology. In his closing chapters, he turns to the politics of contemporary medicine, examining the changing relationship between the state and medicine and between medicine and the people. Never before, he notes, has medicine achieved so much nor attracted such great suspicion. With its triumphs “dissolving in disorientation,” medicine, warns Porter, must now redefine its limits. Thoroughly impressive—merits a broad lay readership in addition to med students. (40 illustrations)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-393-04634-6
Page Count: 800
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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