|
Basic InformationLookupsLatest NewsLive Near a 'Superfund' Site? Your Life Span Might Be ShorterHormone Treatments May Raise Blood Pressure in Transgender PeopleUnexplained Drop in Resting Heart Rate in Youth 'Not a Good Thing'Common MS Meds Might Be Less Effective in Black PatientsIs It Allergies or COVID? Expert Shows How to Tell the DifferenceMany Employees Have Mixed Feelings as Offices ReopenHalf of American Adults Have Now Gotten at Least One COVID Vaccine ShotWarmer Climate, More Pollen, Worse Allergies: How to Fight BackCycling During Dialysis? It Might Help PatientsPregnancy Raises the Risk for Kidney StonesU.S. Marines Study Finds Getting COVID Won't Protect Young People From ReinfectionKnow the Signs of Rare Blood Clot Linked With J & J Vaccine1 in 50 COVID Patients in ICU Will Develop a StrokeBooster Shots a Likely Reality for COVID-Vaccinated AmericansAHA News: The Link Between Structural Racism, High Blood Pressure and Black People's HealthMost Young Americans Eager to Get COVID Vaccine: PollRashes Can Occur After COVID Vaccine, But Dermatologists Say 'Don't Worry'Even Before COVID, Many More People Died Early in U.S. Versus EuropeCOVID Plus 'Bleeding' Stroke Doubles a Patient's Death RiskLower Rates of COVID in States That Mandated Masks: StudyCDC Panel Says It Needs More Time to Study J&J Vaccine Clotting CasesOne Good Way to Help Beat COVID: ExerciseDiabetes Can Lead to Amputations, But Stem Cell Treatment Offers HopeResearch Shows Links Between Gum Disease and Alzheimer'sNo Rise in Global Suicide Rate in First Months of PandemicCloth Masks Do Make Workouts a Bit Tougher, Study FindsMany Kids Who Develop Severe COVID-Linked Syndrome Have Neurologic SymptomsBiden, Fauci Say Pause in J&J COVID Vaccine Is Sign That Safety Comes FirstAHA News: Straight Answers to Common Questions About COVID-19 VaccinesJ&J Vaccine 'Pause' Is Not Mandate Against the Shot, FDA SaysU.K. Variant Won't Trigger More Severe COVID, Studies FindNewborns Won't Get COVID Through Infected Mom's Breast Milk: StudyU.S. Health Agencies Call for Pause in J&J COVID Vaccine After 6 People Develop ClotsUrinary Incontinence Surgery Won't Raise a Woman's Cancer RiskCOVID Vaccines Trigger Protective Immune Response in Nursing Home Residents: StudyCOVID Vaccines Might Not Protect Certain Cancer PatientsHad Facial Fillers? What You Need to Know About COVID VaccinesAntibody Cocktail May Curb Infection in Unvaccinated Who Are Exposed to COVID-19Scientists Find Clues to Why AstraZeneca's Vaccine May Cause ClotsYou've Got Fungi in Your Lungs, and That's OKNon-Emergency Surgeries Are Rebounding, But Backlogs RemainPandemic Has Put Many Clinical Trials on HoldSupply of J&J COVID Vaccine to Drop 86 Percent Next WeekStressed, Exhausted: Frontline Workers Faced Big Mental Strain in PandemicNIH Starts Trial Looking at Rare Allergic Reactions to COVID VaccinesNot Just Keyboards: Many Types of Workers Can Develop Carpal TunnelBlack Women Are Dying of COVID at Much Higher Rates Than White MenTwo Vaccines Show Effectiveness Against Emerging COVID VariantsWomen More Prone to Concussion's Long-Term Harms: StudyCOVID Cases Climb in the Midwest as British Variant Takes Hold in U.S. Questions and AnswersLinksBook Reviews |
| |
by Roy Porter (editor) Cambridge University Press, 1996 Review by Lloyd A. Wells, Ph.D., M.D. on Jun 13th 2002 
Roy Porter, the recently deceased
Professor of the History of Social Medicine at University College, London, was
a prolific writer. He edited this
formidable book and wrote much of it as well.
Originally published in 1996, a paperback version of the text was issued
last year.
This is neither a scholarly treatise
nor even a chronological account of the history of medicine, which in some ways
makes the book all the more delightful.
After an introduction by Porter, there is a long chapter on the history
of disease by Kenneth Kiple, a chapter on the rise of medicine by Vivian
Nutton, a chapter by Porter which attempts to define disease, an excellent
chapter on primary care by Edward Shorter, a chapter on medical science by
Porter, a chapter on hospitals and surgery by Porter, a chapter on
pharmacologys development by Miles Weatherall, an outstanding but brief
chapter on mental illness by Porter, a chapter on medicine and society by John
Pickstone, and a fascinating final chapter on the future of medicine by Geoff
Watts. Each chapter is magnificently
and profusely illustrated with photographs and paintings.
Indeed, this is a beautiful book,
and the illustrations are so telling that they could almost have been published
without any text. But the text is
good! These are thoughtful essays on
the history of medicine which do not require a background in that field. Each of the contributions is well written,
and they fit together very well -a tribute to Porters editorial skills. There are enjoyable anecdotes scattered
throughout the book.
The only criticism I have is that this is not a comprehensive
history of medicine, illustrated or not but it does not pretend to be. I thought more footnotes would have been
helpful, and the index is very sparse at six pages. The intriguing Index of Medical Personalities provides
irritatingly little information.
In total, however, this is a book I
can very warmly recommend. Historians
of medicine will savor the illustrations.
It can serve as a wonderful introduction to the history of medicine for
medical students, physicians, and others.
Sadly, Porter fares no better than
hundreds of his forebears in defining disease but the effort is heroic. This is a wonderful book!
© 2002 Lloyd A. Wells
Lloyd A. Wells, Ph.D., M.D., is a child and
adolescent psychiatrist at the Mayo
Clinic in Minnesota. He has a particular interest in philosophical issues
related to psychiatry and in the logic used in psychiatric discourse.
|