At a time when healthcare management corporations are transforming the once intimate doctor-patient relationship into an impersonal provider-transaction, it is increasingly difficult for both doctors and the public at large to view medicine as an idealistic calling devoted solely to healing the sick. Yet the history of medicine is filled with dedicated individuals whose greatest motivation was and is a selfless passion to treat and cure illness. This book is more than just a compilation of technological achievements, it also emphasises the importance of committed individuals who proposed conceptual breakthroughs that made a telling difference to the human condition. Stressing that medicine should be founded on ethical integrity, compassion, and the encouragement of unfettered scientific research, the authors warn that powerful forces in contemporary society are in danger of seriously neglecting these fundamental principles. This mistake can and must be avoided as we promote the next 100 greatest advances yet to come.
Eugene W. Straus, MD, author of the acclaimed Rosalyn Yalow, Nobel Laureate, is emeritus professor of medicine at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn. He was formerly chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases, director of the Digestive Disease Training Program, and acting cochair of the Department of Medicine there. He is the author of approximately 150 articles in the medical and scientific literature. Alex Straus is a contributing editor at Maxim magazine, specializing in new technology, sports, and feature-length articles. He is the author of Guerilla Golf.
""This book provides a fascinating overview of the history of modern medicine. With figures ranging in time from the beginnings of medicine with Hippocrates, to the cutting edge of modern discoveries, it's an essential addition to the general interest literature on medical history." Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow, Nobel Laureate "At a time when bedrock scientific principles like evolution are being challenged anew, it's refreshing and important to read a book which takes as its goal the celebration of science. Medical Marvels is an immensely engrossing survey which makes clear how dramatically scientific understanding has improved our lives. It's also a textbook example of how to write short, entertaining, and informative capsule biographies. For this alone, it should be required reading in all writing programs." Peter Rothberg, Associate Publisher, The Nation
