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Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications)
The History of Medicine: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides) by Mark Jackson
Excellent Book
Paperback
First published July 3, 2014
14 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Mark Jackson
15 booksMark Jackson is Professor of the History of Medicine and Director of the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments and Health at the University of Exeter. After qualifying in immunology in 1982 and medicine in 1985, he pursued research on the social history of infanticide and the history of `feeble-mindedness’ at the Universities of Leeds and Manchester. More recently, he has been researching and writing on the history of allergies and stress in the modern world, from an international perspective. His major publications include New-Born Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (1996), The Borderland of Imbecility: Medicine, Society and the Fabrication of the Feeble Mind in Late Victorian and Edwardian Britain (2000), Allergy: The History of a Modern Malady (2006), Asthma: The Biography (2009), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Medicine (ed., 2011), The Age of Stress: Science and the Search for Stability (2013), The History of Medicine: A Beginners Guide (2014, shortlisted for the Dingle Prize), Stress in Post-War Britain, 1945-85 (ed., 2015), and The Routledge History of Disease (ed., 2016). He is currently writing a cultural history of the midlife crisis and health in middle age.
He has a strong interest in developing the undergraduate medical curriculum, creating opportunities for wider public engagement activities, and collaborating with health practitioners and policy-makers to enable health and well-being. He was Senior Academic Adviser (Medical Humanities) to the Wellcome Trust (2013-16), has served as Chair of the Wellcome Trust History of Medicine and Research Resources Funding Committees, (2003-13), and was a member of the History sub-panel for REF 2014. He is Chair of the WHO Europe Expert Advisory Group on the Cultural Contexts of Health and a member of the WHO European Advisory Committee on Health Research.
He has a strong interest in developing the undergraduate medical curriculum, creating opportunities for wider public engagement activities, and collaborating with health practitioners and policy-makers to enable health and well-being. He was Senior Academic Adviser (Medical Humanities) to the Wellcome Trust (2013-16), has served as Chair of the Wellcome Trust History of Medicine and Research Resources Funding Committees, (2003-13), and was a member of the History sub-panel for REF 2014. He is Chair of the WHO Europe Expert Advisory Group on the Cultural Contexts of Health and a member of the WHO European Advisory Committee on Health Research.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 1, 2020
A quite interesting book about the development of modern medicine and the stages it went through to becoming what it is today, with the focus being on western medicine, Europe and the US
February 15, 2016
I'm a little obsessed with reading about the history of different sciences. While mainly focused on medicine in the west, this comprehensive history also includes certain parts of eastern medicine as well as the interaction between eastern and western medicine. My absolute favorite thing about this book, which alone makes it worth reading, is the strong inclusion of psychiatry along side internal medicine.
My strongest criticism of this book is how it starts strong in including eastern and psychiatric medicines, then starts to fall off toward the end, only making occasional references. It's a shame, because the author clearly had the capacity to do the research and instead trailed off just when he needed to end strong. Understanding how psychiatry and eastern medicine interact with the mainstream western medicine we are all so familiar with is absolutely crucial for understanding today's healthcare in any country. Occasional references just didn't do it for me.
My strongest criticism of this book is how it starts strong in including eastern and psychiatric medicines, then starts to fall off toward the end, only making occasional references. It's a shame, because the author clearly had the capacity to do the research and instead trailed off just when he needed to end strong. Understanding how psychiatry and eastern medicine interact with the mainstream western medicine we are all so familiar with is absolutely crucial for understanding today's healthcare in any country. Occasional references just didn't do it for me.
February 22, 2017
Subject matter for the book is just too broad to cover in such a short book. Western medicine is covered more than Eastern medicine especially towards the end. Did learn a lot of interesting facts and historical context to things we still do today.
October 20, 2024
How interesting it was to look at the history of the world through the lens of medicine. This book follows the evolution of both Eastern and Western medicine from ancient periods including Ayurveda (Indian) Medicine 2500–500 BC, Egyptian Medicine 3500–500 BC and Chinese Medicine as early as 2500 BC, through the Medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, right up to todays ‘Modern Medicine’. It is an epic piece of work!
I listened to it on audio, and it is wholly accessible content to the non-medic, very logical and easy to follow. All the famous names and key medical ‘books’ are mentioned. Listening to the history of medicine in its evolving sequence tells an impressive story of human determination and the thirst for knowledge. Interestingly, Jackson finishes by saying that despite all our learnings and our ultra-advanced medical techniques, there is still a long way to go on this journey. We are nowhere near determining that we have 'control' over our collective health. Despite centuries of rapid advancements, life expectancy only materially extended in the twentieth century, and this cannot be attributed to medicine alone, but to diet, hygiene and multiple lifestyle factors. It was a very interesting book, I enjoyed it.
My key learnings:
o There are similarities in ancient Indian, Chinese, Egyptian and Greco medicine where they all recognized diseases in context of lifestyle, diet, environment and the impact on the flow of energy.
o Each era took ideas from its predecessors, so medical knowledge was transferred across eras and across regions through travelers. Trade routes, religious preaching, wars and slave trades led to the spread of medical knowledge, medicines and herbs between East and West, from Africa to the US etc
o Medical developments were inextricably linked with and influenced by the macro social-economic-political-spiritual environments. You cannot look at medical history without the macro context.
o War played a critical role in medical innovation, as new techniques in diagnostics, surgery, medicating, sterilizing and vaccinating were all fast tracked on the battlefield, as early as the Crusades and later during the Boer War, Crimea War and World War I. Furthermore, war led to the initiation of global health focused organisations like the Red Cross and WHO.
o Interestingly, medicine played a role in empowering colonialism, by providing solutions to deal with tropical illness, enabling white Europeans to colonize (bad medicine!)
o While the ancient Hippocratic oath (400BC) laid out guidelines and practices for medics, from the enlightenment period, there came an emerging focus on medical ethics. The Geneva Convention in 1948 solidified a global alignment on ethics and consent and it both modernized and reinforced the Hippocratic oath.
o For much of history and arguably still today, access to health care clearly remains class related; as Jackson says "absence of wealth = absence of health"
o The key periods where medicine made significant leaps were from the Ancient to the Medical years (medicine and religion/spiritual were closely linked), Renaissance (1450-1650 rapid expansion of science), Enlightenment (1685-1815 lot of innovation in techniques, instruments and medical organisation) and of course todays Modern Medicine.
I listened to it on audio, and it is wholly accessible content to the non-medic, very logical and easy to follow. All the famous names and key medical ‘books’ are mentioned. Listening to the history of medicine in its evolving sequence tells an impressive story of human determination and the thirst for knowledge. Interestingly, Jackson finishes by saying that despite all our learnings and our ultra-advanced medical techniques, there is still a long way to go on this journey. We are nowhere near determining that we have 'control' over our collective health. Despite centuries of rapid advancements, life expectancy only materially extended in the twentieth century, and this cannot be attributed to medicine alone, but to diet, hygiene and multiple lifestyle factors. It was a very interesting book, I enjoyed it.
My key learnings:
o There are similarities in ancient Indian, Chinese, Egyptian and Greco medicine where they all recognized diseases in context of lifestyle, diet, environment and the impact on the flow of energy.
o Each era took ideas from its predecessors, so medical knowledge was transferred across eras and across regions through travelers. Trade routes, religious preaching, wars and slave trades led to the spread of medical knowledge, medicines and herbs between East and West, from Africa to the US etc
o Medical developments were inextricably linked with and influenced by the macro social-economic-political-spiritual environments. You cannot look at medical history without the macro context.
o War played a critical role in medical innovation, as new techniques in diagnostics, surgery, medicating, sterilizing and vaccinating were all fast tracked on the battlefield, as early as the Crusades and later during the Boer War, Crimea War and World War I. Furthermore, war led to the initiation of global health focused organisations like the Red Cross and WHO.
o Interestingly, medicine played a role in empowering colonialism, by providing solutions to deal with tropical illness, enabling white Europeans to colonize (bad medicine!)
o While the ancient Hippocratic oath (400BC) laid out guidelines and practices for medics, from the enlightenment period, there came an emerging focus on medical ethics. The Geneva Convention in 1948 solidified a global alignment on ethics and consent and it both modernized and reinforced the Hippocratic oath.
o For much of history and arguably still today, access to health care clearly remains class related; as Jackson says "absence of wealth = absence of health"
o The key periods where medicine made significant leaps were from the Ancient to the Medical years (medicine and religion/spiritual were closely linked), Renaissance (1450-1650 rapid expansion of science), Enlightenment (1685-1815 lot of innovation in techniques, instruments and medical organisation) and of course todays Modern Medicine.
April 6, 2024
A whistle stop tour of medicine
did-not-finish
August 15, 2024@32% - eh
October 11, 2024
A very brief history of a broad subject. Felt kinda dry for the most part.
March 9, 2020
This is a great overview--anyone vaguely interested in the history of medicine could easily use this as a branching off point to find more specific areas of interest. Jackson covers quite a bit in this short introduction, and this book is interesting and unique in its inclusion of non-Western medicine throughout time.
May 22, 2015
First book in medical history I ever read. Regardless the certain number of medical terms it includes, it was amazing and enriching. I cannot recommend it or not duo to my gap in these kinds of books but l like its precision, concision and historical recording.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews