Product Description

The authors have chosen to document what they consider to be the ten medical discoveries that have most affected humanity's welfare. This text aims to interest the general reader and contains entertaining stories of ambition, jealously, lies and fraud in the name of science.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #181521 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

From the Publisher
Review
'[a] fascinating and very accessible book' - Oxford Times

Customer Reviews

Thinking "Outside the box".
An old puzzle requires connecting a square of dots by drawing three connected straight lines. The simple solution, which most people do not consider, depends on extending one line outside the boundary of the dots. The scientists and physicians described in Medicine's 10 Greatest Discoveries frequently had the ability to think "outside the box". They looked at the same data as others, but they saw new and important relationships. What impresses the reader is, not the brilliance of many of the discovers, but their ability to recognize the importance of data that most would consider trivial. These great discoverers were often not likable or engaging personalities; their commitment to their field was frequently obsessive; their social relationships stunted and their great discoveries depended, not so much on brilliance, but more on their enduring curiosity. The book makes compelling reading, because it is not only a history of discovery but also of the querky personalities of a number of the discoverers. The authors skillfully draw conclusions from limited historical data.This book has charm. The reader partakes of the naïve thought that just, maybe, if he had been there, he could have made the same discovery but that he probably would not have wanted to socially "pay the price". This book is like a delicious low calorie meal. How often can one learn a great deal about interesting personalities and events and thoroughly enjoy the experience?

The human story behind discoveries that touch our lives
Friedman and Friedland have written an engaging history of medicine that is understandable for the layman and, I imagine, illuminating for the medical professional as well. The two doctors (who can boast more than a century of combined medical experience) share enthusiasm and warmth for a subject that has engaged their interest beyond their professional lives. They have given us, not only the history of each discovery, but also the way that each one has changed the world and how we perceive ourselves. Imagine not having a concept of your skeleton as the framework for your body or an understanding of how the heart conducts the circulation of blood in your body. Imagine surgery without anesthesia; a world ravaged by smallpox, polio and tuberculosis; dying of a minor cut or sore throat because antibiotics do not exist. We owe so much to these discoverers, yet they were so human -- people who could be exceedingly petty, who, while being perceptive in certain aspects of their discovery, could be myopic in others. None of these discoverers are presented as intellectual giants. In fact, they often were limited by their own prejudices and needed others to make their discovery one of the 10 greatest. Here are stories of chicanery, international intrigue, the basest of human politics and dumb luck. Fascinating stuff! Friedman and Friedland have talked to many of the major players in the more recent discoveries and have made a few historical discoveries of their own which they share. It is a journey of discovery for the reader as well. The next time someone toasts to your health, you will know just who to thank!

Medicine made understandable
Drs. Friedland and Friedman have taken a tremendously complex area of life, medicine and the adventure of discovery, and have made it understandable for the layperson, without making it simplistic. Their book is readable and engaging and takes the non-medical person on the intellectual adventure of exploration. When I read about the discoveries of the past, I could only but imagine the excitement of the medical discoveries of the future. Drs. Friedland and Friedman have opened up new vistas. Thank you!