Colonial American Medicine (Venture Book) [Library Binding]

Susan Neiburg Terkel (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Series: Venture Book

Examines the health risks in the American colonies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and looks at the questionable, and even dangerous, treatments and remedies available at the time.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-Students looking to learn about colonial medicine will find this book invaluable. The extensively researched text describes diseases in America and their attempted cures from 1607-1800, when little was known about the human body and no certification or formal training was necessary to practice medicine. Institutions were dangerous and disease-infested; in fact, chances of recovery were probably better with no medical intervention. Terkel mentions the major physicians and events, showing how European practices influenced the colonies. The text is clearly written and imparts a great deal of information. An interesting selection of black-and-white historical reproductions reflects the viewpoints of the period. A solid choice for most collections.
Martha Gordon, South Salem Library, NY
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Medical practice in early America could be torture: Washington succumbed after blistering, purging, and having half his blood removed, the best care in an era ``marked by ignorant theories, ineffective treatments, a scarcity of trained physicians, poor sanitation, and frightening epidemics.'' Meanwhile, knowledge of anatomy and the causes of disease were minimal (as one doctor observed, ``it is better to let nature...take her course than to trust to the honesty and sagacity of the practitioner''). Medicines ranged from herbs and chicken soup to human waste; anesthesia, sterilization, and immunization were unknown. Anyone could and did practice medicine without control. Terkel covers medicine's progress from the Jamestown settlement through the 18th century--a period that saw the opening of medical schools and hospitals, the beginnings of preventive medicine and of inoculation and vaccination, and improved sanitation and nutrition. Though still far from modern standards, the colonists made great progress in less than 200 years. From a solid new series, Colonial America, a fascinating book that inspires gratitude for contemporary medicine. B&w illustrations; appendix; source notes; glossary; bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 10-13) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding: 111 pages
• Publisher: Franklin Watts (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531125394
• ISBN-13: 978-0531125397
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,770,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.