A Brief History of Medicine

摘要

This book traces the development of medical science from the ancient treatments by charms and spells, going to pilgrimage or even touch by a king or a queen to modern transplant or robotic surgery. Short biographical sketches highlight the role of eminent physicians, each taking a small step in the modernisation of medical science. What we know of medicine today, is the result of discoveries made by men and women over thousands of years. The field’s greatest practitioners were, like the rest of us, human beings with flaws and weaknesses. Risk-takers and rebels, challenged the conventional wisdom and stirred storms of controversy. Some were ridiculed or even reviled in their own time. While writing this book, the aim has been to make the text highly informative, yet short and interesting. The stories and legends woven around the historical figures provide flesh and blood to the bone-dry history of medicine. The book is expected to find favour with all the medical students as well as their teachers or even laymen.