Customer Reviews

An Ear to the Chest: An Illustrated History of the Evolution of the Stethoscope

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent reference and makes a wonderful addition to the library of the medical historian or antique collector. Although I imagine the target audience for this book is small, it is virtually indispensable to the collector of antique stethoscopes. There is some informative prose about the inception and development of the stethoscope and its integration to medical practice, but the uniquely valuable part of this book is the 45-page appendix where various stethoscope designs are pictured and described. This is the best single reference for identifying model types of antique stethoscopes that I have encountered. There is also an exhaustive bibliography for those who wish to pursue further research. The book is well worth the investment for the interested reader.

This book is a lot more serious than its cover implies. Although I don't have the background to judge its content, it gives every appearance of being a thoroughly researched piece of scholarship with 12 pages of references for 80 pages of text and photos. There is also a large appendix of images from the author's personal collection of period auscultation equipment. Especially as this seems to be the only book of its kind available, it gets 5 stars. But if you go to a database like ScienceDirect, you will be able to find articles published in medical journals that cover some of the same territory.