Timetables of Medicine: An Illustrated Chronology of the History of Medicine from Prehistory to Present Times
- Book Review,
by John Cule (Editor)
From Book News, Inc.
This illustrated volume presents a visual tour of medicine throughout the ages. Ten parallel timetables span from prehistoric times to the present. Timelines display discoveries, anecdotes, and famous medical figures, each focusing on a specific discipline and tracing its development across thousands of years. A timeline of significant world events outside of medicine puts these developments into a larger historical context. Special topics include the story of disease, women in medicine, the development of the pharmacy, and medicine in the future. Illustrated with about 250 drawings and photographs. Oversize: 10x12.5.Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR
Book Description
This amazing visual overview walks readers through the history of medical discoveries year-by-year from crude early techniques to cutting-edge modern treatments. The illustrated timetable offers parallel chronologies of the developments in public health, disease, diagnosis, treatment, surgery, healers and teachers, medical science and inventions as they happened. Key concurrent world events are also noted for historical context. Each decade is indicated at the top of the full-color timetable. Underneath, pictures and short descriptions show the advances and breakthroughs that occurred all over the world at that time, allowing readers the unique opportunity to trace medical developments chronologically. For example, in the 1920s column, readers will see that in the U.S. scientists developed a vaccine against TB, in France the iron lung was invented and in Germany the first successful pregnancy test was administered. The wealth of engaging information is broken-up into small vignettes providing an overview of the advances of medical science and relating specific stories about discoveries and personalities of particular interest.
From the Inside Flap
Timetables of Medicine is a fascinating visual tour of medicine throughout the ages. Featuring ten parallel timetables that span from prehistoric times to the present day, this illustrated volume details everything from crude techniques of the Dark Ages to the stunning developments of modern medicine in a unique, easy-to-follow format. The key to Timetables of Medicine's accessibility is the presentation-discoveries, anecdotes and famous medical figures are displayed on an array of timelines. Each timeline focuses on a specific discipline and traces its development across thousands of years, allowing readers to compare advances at any point in history on a wide range of subjects like Public Health, Disease, Diagnosis, Treatments, Surgery and Inventions. A timeline of significant World Events outside of medicine puts these developments in a larger historical context. We see in one glance how, circa 1640, the Virginia Assembly passed laws regulating medical practices, Malaria arrived in Spain, the first book on First Aid was published in England, Descartes researched the optical lens in France and Portugal gained its independence. Hundreds of other entries trace medicine's development through the centuries, rendering history in a broad, continuous stroke that allows readers to survey every point on the medical spectrum for any given period. Along the way, the timetable reveals interesting facts about the spread of plagues, the development of surgery and anesthetics, and the medical pioneers who changed the course of history. In also examines how the growing knowledge of bacteria and infection have improved our understanding of the human body and how our attitudes to hygiene, childbirth, death and mental illness have changed dramatically as we've learned more about the causes of disease and illness. The timelines are illustrated with over 250 drawings and photographs that depict important events and individuals, and dozens of special features explore topics of particular interest in detail-from the growth of hospitals to the emergence of Chinese healing, from the Black Plague to Sigmund Freud. Feature chapters explore topics like The Story of Disease, The Development of the Pharmacy, Alternative Treatments, Women in Medicine and Medicine in the Future. Separate sections include a complete list of Noble Prize winners and their achievements, a country-by-country breakdown of medical history, a how-to for using the book and an extensive bibliography. A Factfinder helps locate particular discoveries, developments and individuals. Examining everything from herbs in early Mesopotamia to the Ebola virus in modern Africa, Timetables of Medicine is an innovative look at medical history with a blend of careful description and detailed illustrations that is at once comprehensive, entertaining and accessible.
From the Back Cover
A FASCINATING VISUAL TOUR OF MEDICINE THROUGHOUT THE AGES - Traces the entire history of medicine-from prehistory to the present-through a broad range of topics like Society, Public Health, Disease, Diagnosis, Treatment, Surgery, Inventions, Mental Health and others - Detailed visual timelines show advances from pre-10,000 BC through the dawn of the twenty-first century, presenting decades of medical history at one glance - Hundreds of fascinating facts and figures-over 1,500 entries - Beautifully illustrated with more than 250 photographs and illustrations - Includes a useful factfinder for quick reference, along with dozens of lists, panels, charts and other features - Special sections explore Alternative Medicine, The History of Disease, The Development of the Pharmacy, The Nobel Prize Winners and much more - A timeline ribbon of world events compares developments in the world-at-large to medical advances within each era THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE-AS NEVER SEEN BEFORE
About the Author
John Cule, Ph.D. is the author and editor of many books, and the Head of the Medical History Unit at the University of Wales College of Medicine. He is also President of the International Society for the History of Medicine, an Emeritus Member of the American Osler Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. Introduction by Roy Porter is Professor of Social History of Medicine at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine in London, and has taught at the University of Cambridge and UCLA. He has written and edited many influential books.
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