Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates to the Human Genome [Hardcover]

Robert E. Adler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471401757 | ISBN-13: 978-0471401759 | Publication Date: March 29, 2004 | Edition: 1

An exploration of medical discoveries-from the ancient Greeks to the present
"Always help, or at least do no harm." Following this simple yet revolutionary idea, Hippocrates laid the foundation for modern medicine over two millennia ago. From the Hippocratic Oath to the human genome, from Pasteur's germ theory to the worldwide eradication of smallpox, Medical Firsts brings to life 2,500 years of medical advances and discoveries. Organized chronologically, the book describes each milestone in a vivid capsule history, making it a fascinating and wonderfully readable resource for anyone interested in medicine's past progress and future promise.
Robert E. Adler, PhD (Santa Rosa, CA) has worked as a psychologist and science journalist. He writes about a wide variety of scientific and medical topics for New Scientist, Nature, and other publications and is the author of Science Firsts (0-471-40174-9).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this cursory though delightful companion to his previous Science Firsts, Adler ably combines good storytelling, clear and cogent scientific explanations, a respect for science over superstition and a love of what he sees as one of humanity's "finest and most difficult" arts: "the application of medical knowledge to individual human beings like you and me." Through short, chronologically arranged histories of individuals who have defined medicine, Adler presents a compelling narrative arc from Hippocrates' dream of "human mastery of health and disease" to current efforts to "decode, understand, and manipulate genetic information." Adler vividly portrays the heroic efforts of such greats as Herophilus, who "discovered and described the prostate, the spermatic duct, the Fallopian tubes, and the ovaries" in the fourth century B.C.; Abu Bark al-Razi, whose 10th-century A.D. description of smallpox reads like "a modern diagnostic manual"; and Johann Weyer, who fought against the "paranoia, cruelty, and hatred of women" in the "Malleus Maleficarum," the bible of witch-hunters throughout Europe during the Inquisition. Adler also cogently presents more recent individuals such as Margaret Sanger, who championed the development and use of the first oral contraceptive, and Carleton Gajdusek and Stanley Prusiner, who worked to solve such illnesses as mad cow disease.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In this slim but powerful volume, science writer Adler chronicles two-and-a-half millennia of medical history in all its fits, stalls, and starts. More than that, with lively narrative and numerous illustrations, he breathes life into each of the giants who laid a stepping-stone in medicine's path from cave drawings and charms to sophisticated, computer-assisted diagnoses. The contributors to the annals of medical knowledge he cites include the most famous names--Hippocrates, Pasteur, Freud, Alexander Fleming--and some not so commonly known, such as pioneering gynecologist Soranus (first century C.E.); Ibn al-Nafis (ca. 1210-88), credited as the first to understand and describe pulmonary circulation; and John Snow, an important figure in the war on cholera. From the parental background of Galen (130-200), the self-proclaimed "Prince of Physicians," to the social issues and political turmoil surrounding Margaret Sanger's fight for birth control, Adler discusses each figure's personal, social, and political history as it affected his or her contribution. A handy, highly readable reference. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471401757
• ISBN-13: 978-0471401759
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Adler was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, studied physics and mathematics at the University of New Mexico, and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. During his career as a clinical psychologist he researched and wrote Sharing the Children, a book aimed at helping divorced or divorcing parents resolve their conflicts and work out child-rearing plans that were good for their children. Since completing the science journalism program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he has worked as a freelance science and technology writer. He has written multiple science and technology news stories, interviews, and features for New Scientist, Nature, Astronomy, ScienceNow, the San Jose Mercury News, the Boston Globe and other print and online publications. He has also written two books published by John Wiley & Sons, Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation, and Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates to the Human Genome. These books trace the history of science and medicine through the stories of some of the greatest researchers and their discoveries. With his wife, Jo Ann Wexler, he writes and continually updates Viva Oaxaca: An Insiders Guide to Oaxaca's Charms, which has become a leading guidebook to that Mexican destination.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be afraid!!!, June 22, 2004

By 

Carol Wiseman "'author of A Patchwork of Comf... (Whidbey Island WA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates to the Human Genome (Hardcover)

As a lay person, I cautiously picked up Medical Firsts thinking I wouldn't understand a word. Surprise, surprise. I not only understood, but was blown away by what I didn't know. Adler made the lives and works of medical pioneers who laid the ground work for what we all take for granted come alive for me. Since I've actively repelled anything remotely connected to science all my life, almost every page had a "wow" factor.

The short chapters made it a lot more readable for me as a science challenged reader. With so much new info, I was grateful to pause after each one to appreciate the enormity of the discovery. I developed a reverence and gratituide to those who overcame enormous social barriers and fought, amazingly, the same hurdles that impede progress today - fear of change, fear of the unknown.

Thanks to Adler, I just might tiptoe back into new bookstore aisles.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adler's Second Book on Firsts!, May 18, 2004

By 

Tony Pini (Santa Rosa, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates to the Human Genome (Hardcover)

Medical Firsts is a well written, interesting, and informative account of preeminent medical achievements over the past 2500 years. It is well worth reading whether you are a medical professional or simply have a curious mind. Robert Adler's style of writing is easy to follow, entertaining, and intelligent. This book is organized into twenty-eight bite-sized chapters, each of which is thoroughly researched and very fascinating on its own. After reading Robert Adler's first great book, Science Firsts, I had very high expectations. I was certainly not disappointed and you won't be either. I highly recommend this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing and fascinating stories of how healthcare developed, April 25, 2004

By 

David Elovitz (Natick, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates to the Human Genome (Hardcover)

Any health care consumer -- or provider -- should be fascinated by these stories of how the health care we know to day came to be. It was amazing to me to read how much the ancients knew about the human body, and how accurately, and then how "medicine" descended into the miasma of the Middle Ages for over a thousand years before painstakingly, and with great difficulty, enduring personal animosity, crawling back to what the ancients knew, and beyond to what medical science knows today.

All related in well-told stories about real people, described warts and all. Some of those people I had never heard about before but even the others of whom I had read elsewhere came alive as people, with new information and more background.

I heartily recommend this book for anyone with an interest in healthcare, or in history. Not only informative, but very enjoyable reading.