The Cambridge History of Medicine
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
This book traces the story of medicine, covering the subjects of disease, pharmacology, hospitals, therapy, and state involvement, all in about 400 pages. Its late editor, Roy Porter, succeeded in tying these and more subjects addressed by multiple authors into a seamless, accessible narrative.
The book begins by speculating on the history of disease among our hominid ancestors and then documents disease in Homo sapiens. The authors tell us that with the development of urban settlements 12,000 years ago, and the change from groups of hunter–gatherers to an agricultural economy, exposure to communicable diseases changed. Communal living increased opportunities for infection by parasites, poxes, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and other ills that plagued our ancestors. The domestication of animals and the intrusion of rats and mice added zoonosis to the risks. The first chapter of the book covers diseases chronologically through history, concluding with modern infections, such as HIV infection, and noninfectious diseases that have developed as lifestyles have changed. The impact of these diseases on society is documented, and there is also a lively discussion about what does, and does not, constitute a disease.
Subsequent chapters chronicle the rise of the healing arts, beginning with the Mesopotamian view of disease and then moving to the views of the Greeks and Christians. The contribution of Arabic medical knowledge to Renaissance European medicine is acknowledged. The rise of scientific medicine starts with the Galenic view of balanced and unbalanced humors flowing from the liver and ends with modern knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. Andreas Vesalius, Gabriele Falloppio, and William Harvey led the way with dissection-based documentation of anatomical structure. Accurate knowledge of anatomy was the impetus for clear thinking about physiology. By the 18th and 19th centuries, this knowledge began to deliver benefits to treatment, with the discovery of specific syndromes, their pathophysiology, and their response to therapy. Meaningful advances in surgery awaited the development of effective anesthesia, but by the 19th century, science had become deeply imbedded in medicine. One chapter is devoted to the changing views of mental illness and society's reaction to individuals with mental disorders, beginning with the Greeks.
The last portion of the book discusses contemporary medicine and its future. The final chapter and an addendum deal with the use of computers in medicine. In other chapters, the authors discuss medical ethics, especially with regard to equitable health care delivery and end-of-life issues. The development of new technologies — especially new diagnostic tools, gene therapy, and advancements in keyhole surgery and robotic surgery — is also discussed. Although the ethics of in vitro fertilization and surrogate pregnancies is addressed in the book, embryonic stem cell research is not discussed.
This is not a book by physicians, and it is not always complimentary toward them. Rather, it is a book by historians about the social and scientific history of medicine. It gives special attention to the past 200 years but also surveys primitive medicine, dating to prehistory. The book is both lucid and readable and ought to be of wide interest.
Robert N. Tyson, M.D.
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
prtyson@msn.com(Edited by Roy Porter. 408)
The book begins by speculating on the history of disease among our hominid ancestors and then documents disease in Homo sapiens. The authors tell us that with the development of urban settlements 12,000 years ago, and the change from groups of hunter–gatherers to an agricultural economy, exposure to communicable diseases changed. Communal living increased opportunities for infection by parasites, poxes, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and other ills that plagued our ancestors. The domestication of animals and the intrusion of rats and mice added zoonosis to the risks. The first chapter of the book covers diseases chronologically through history, concluding with modern infections, such as HIV infection, and noninfectious diseases that have developed as lifestyles have changed. The impact of these diseases on society is documented, and there is also a lively discussion about what does, and does not, constitute a disease.
Subsequent chapters chronicle the rise of the healing arts, beginning with the Mesopotamian view of disease and then moving to the views of the Greeks and Christians. The contribution of Arabic medical knowledge to Renaissance European medicine is acknowledged. The rise of scientific medicine starts with the Galenic view of balanced and unbalanced humors flowing from the liver and ends with modern knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. Andreas Vesalius, Gabriele Falloppio, and William Harvey led the way with dissection-based documentation of anatomical structure. Accurate knowledge of anatomy was the impetus for clear thinking about physiology. By the 18th and 19th centuries, this knowledge began to deliver benefits to treatment, with the discovery of specific syndromes, their pathophysiology, and their response to therapy. Meaningful advances in surgery awaited the development of effective anesthesia, but by the 19th century, science had become deeply imbedded in medicine. One chapter is devoted to the changing views of mental illness and society's reaction to individuals with mental disorders, beginning with the Greeks.
The last portion of the book discusses contemporary medicine and its future. The final chapter and an addendum deal with the use of computers in medicine. In other chapters, the authors discuss medical ethics, especially with regard to equitable health care delivery and end-of-life issues. The development of new technologies — especially new diagnostic tools, gene therapy, and advancements in keyhole surgery and robotic surgery — is also discussed. Although the ethics of in vitro fertilization and surrogate pregnancies is addressed in the book, embryonic stem cell research is not discussed.
This is not a book by physicians, and it is not always complimentary toward them. Rather, it is a book by historians about the social and scientific history of medicine. It gives special attention to the past 200 years but also surveys primitive medicine, dating to prehistory. The book is both lucid and readable and ought to be of wide interest.
Robert N. Tyson, M.D.
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
prtyson@msn.com(Edited by Roy Porter. 408)