The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine

Surveys the rise of medicine in the West from the earliest times to the present day, & glimpses medicine's future. Annotation. Against the backdrop of unprecedented concern for the future of health care, The Cambridge Illustrated 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 lavishly-illustrated volume traces the chronology of key developments and events, while at the same time engaging with the issues, discoveries, and controversies that have beset and characterized medical progress. The authors weave a narrative that connects disease, doctors, primary care, surgery, the rise of hospitals, drug treatment and pharmacology, mental illness and psychiatry. This volume emphasizes the crucial developments of the past 150 years, but also examines classical, medieval, and Islamic and East Asian medicine. Authoritative and accessible, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine is for readers wanting a lively and informative introduction to medical history. Roy Porter has written or edited numerous books on the history of medicine. Two recent works include The Western Medical Tradition (with L. Conrad, CUP 1995) and Drugs and Narcotics in History (with M. Teich, CUP 1995) Annotation. The aim of this textbook is to set the major changes of the practice of medicine in their historical context. Authors trace the tradition as it arose out of Ancient Greece, examine the transformations stimulated by the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution, and consider the advances of the 19th century. Further topics include drug treatment and the rise of pharmacology; mental illness; medicine, society, and the state; and future trends