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Cambridge Illustrated Histories
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine
Against the backdrop of unprecedented concern for the future of health care, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine surveys the rise of medicine in the West from classical times to the present. Covering both the social and scientific history of medicine, this lavishly illustrated volume traces the chronology of key developments and events, while at the same time engaging with the issues, discoveries, and controversies that have beset and characterized medical progress. The authors weave a narrative that connects disease, doctors, primary care, surgery, the rise of hospitals, drug treatment and pharmacology, mental illness and psychiatry. This volume emphasizes the crucial developments of the past 150 years, but also examines classical, medieval, and Islamic and East Asian medicine. Authoritative and accessible, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine is for readers wanting a lively and informative introduction to medical history.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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314 people want to read
About the author
Roy Porter
211 books124 followersRoy's books cover several fields: the history of geology, London, 18th-Century British ideas and society, medicine, madness, quackery, patients and practitioners, literature and art, on which subjects (and others) he published over 200 books are articles.
List of works can be found @ wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Porter )
List of works can be found @ wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Porter )
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 15, 2013
This big, heavy book is filled with an enormous amount of information, all sumptuously illustrated and filled with photographs and paintings. A bit overwhelming, but really entertaining to read in small sips. There are numerous articles treating the various topics, and several interesting and very informative sidebar pages as well, where a short article and picture or painting are shown that delves into an aspect of the topic that might only have been done in passing in the article. Lots and lots of information here, quite entertainingly presented. The topics/articles include:
1. The history of disease, Kenneth F. Kiple
2. The rise of medicine, Vivian Nutton
3. What is disease?, Roy Porter
4. Primary care, Edward Shorter
5. Medical science, Roy Porter
6. Hospitals and surgery, Roy Porter
7. Drug treatment and the rise of pharmacology, Miles Weatherall
8. Mental illness, Roy Porter
9. Medicine, society and the state, John Pickstone
10.Looking to the future, Geoff Watts
Porter edits the volume, and also contributes a very interesting and informative introduction as well. This is a tasty overview of many important subjects, treated superficially but not at all lightly - all authors are well-educated and well-read in their fields and provide much interesting fodder for the mind. Recommended, to those who enjoy the history of medicine and of "care".
NOTE: most of the slant is towards British medicine and attitudes, although a good deal of reference and comparison is made with American treatments and attitudes.
1. The history of disease, Kenneth F. Kiple
2. The rise of medicine, Vivian Nutton
3. What is disease?, Roy Porter
4. Primary care, Edward Shorter
5. Medical science, Roy Porter
6. Hospitals and surgery, Roy Porter
7. Drug treatment and the rise of pharmacology, Miles Weatherall
8. Mental illness, Roy Porter
9. Medicine, society and the state, John Pickstone
10.Looking to the future, Geoff Watts
Porter edits the volume, and also contributes a very interesting and informative introduction as well. This is a tasty overview of many important subjects, treated superficially but not at all lightly - all authors are well-educated and well-read in their fields and provide much interesting fodder for the mind. Recommended, to those who enjoy the history of medicine and of "care".
NOTE: most of the slant is towards British medicine and attitudes, although a good deal of reference and comparison is made with American treatments and attitudes.
June 13, 2021
The title should be "History of Western Medicine". Asian and Middle Eastern medicine were mentioned very briefly.
May 17, 2022
Excellent overview
January 24, 2016
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine looks like a coffee table book and is marketed as such. Not surprisingly, it makes system use of art and anecdotal use of statistics. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that it was entirely appropriate for a person such as myself having a very modest knowledge of the history or medicine. A medical professional however is unlikely to find any redeeming value in this superficial book abounding in platitudes.
Beyond making a reader smile, reproductions of paintings and photographs of sculptures provide a barometer of the view of the general public towards medicine and disease. A history of medicine however needs more mood and atmosphere. The absence of charts and graphs portraying quantitative trends is a serious weakness in this book. I would have likde to see charts showing the rise and decline in incidence in the major diseases discussed as well as the geographical distribution. Tables on the growth in number of licensed practitioners and hospital beds also would have been helpful. Similarly, the lengthy discussion on the costs of public health care since the advent of national health insurance schemes should have been accompanied by data in tabular form.
Politically correct blather can also be found in abundant quantities in this book. Perhaps the publishers did not want to offend readers who make use of chiropractors, acupuncturists, and homeopaths but as someone who regards alternate medicine as quackery I would have preferred a more critical tone adopted towards these various providers of healing services.
Despite my reserves, this book has several strong points. In particular it does a good job of telling how modern scientific medicine emerged in the nineteenth century. It provides a quick narrative outlining the major positive events: the invention of new drugs (insulin, penicillin, etc.), the appearance of new diagnostic tools (X-Rays, Cat Scans etc.) and developments in surgical techniques. Finally, the explains how the scientific approaches to diagnose, research and teaching were implemented sixty to eighty years before effective treatments were developed.
I am giving this book only three stars. I had expected better from Cambridge University Press.
Beyond making a reader smile, reproductions of paintings and photographs of sculptures provide a barometer of the view of the general public towards medicine and disease. A history of medicine however needs more mood and atmosphere. The absence of charts and graphs portraying quantitative trends is a serious weakness in this book. I would have likde to see charts showing the rise and decline in incidence in the major diseases discussed as well as the geographical distribution. Tables on the growth in number of licensed practitioners and hospital beds also would have been helpful. Similarly, the lengthy discussion on the costs of public health care since the advent of national health insurance schemes should have been accompanied by data in tabular form.
Politically correct blather can also be found in abundant quantities in this book. Perhaps the publishers did not want to offend readers who make use of chiropractors, acupuncturists, and homeopaths but as someone who regards alternate medicine as quackery I would have preferred a more critical tone adopted towards these various providers of healing services.
Despite my reserves, this book has several strong points. In particular it does a good job of telling how modern scientific medicine emerged in the nineteenth century. It provides a quick narrative outlining the major positive events: the invention of new drugs (insulin, penicillin, etc.), the appearance of new diagnostic tools (X-Rays, Cat Scans etc.) and developments in surgical techniques. Finally, the explains how the scientific approaches to diagnose, research and teaching were implemented sixty to eighty years before effective treatments were developed.
I am giving this book only three stars. I had expected better from Cambridge University Press.
September 12, 2021
There exist few ways to understand something better than understanding its history. Nuanced details make more sense when attached to the historical narrative. Such is certainly the case in medicine, the universal human struggle against death. This book, an edited collection of histories of various aspects of medicine, offers these explanations with clarity and erudition. It offers hard science commingled with human insight – a coupling appropriate for the task of healing.
Students of medicine or even future students of medicine would do well to pay heed to this book. It presents a comprehensive picture of the medical enterprise. It offers insight into why individuals look for healing and what that healing consists of. While having a particular focus on the West – and especially Britain (due to its Cambridge origins) – this book attempts to integrate other forms of healing into its analyses, like homeopathy, acupuncture, and so-called alternative medicine. American medicine is frequently referenced, perhaps because of its disproportionate impact on world medicine through research.
Medical research is also well-covered in this history alongside clinical medicine. Philosophical underpinnings, like the mechanistic view of the body popularized in the Renaissance, are explained in light of the developing influence they garnered. This book does not explain in detail non-Western forms of medicine, but straightforwardly admits this fact in the text. It does treat those forms of medicine in passing.
As alluded to in the title, numerous illustrations are provided and deepen readers’ experiences. Indeed, in a sensory field like medicine, these images are almost essential. A newer edition of this book exists, one without “illustrated” in the title; I do not know if these images exist in that text, but I chose this book because of the need for good images. Indeed, this book could serve as a good book for a physician’s or nurse’s coffee table. For those looking to dig deeper into particular topics in the history of medicine, an appendix of references is provided.
This book meets several potential audiences. Medical trainees are first among those. Anyone interested in the medical enterprise in an international setting – its past, present, and future – can benefit from a read. Also, current practitioners of the medical arts can brush up on their knowledge of the past. Mysteries of the present can be explained through stories of the past – I found this to be the case several times during my reading. This book deals with an important topic, one often overlooked by education’s science-heavy curricula. Perhaps another generation can benefit from reading its contents.
Students of medicine or even future students of medicine would do well to pay heed to this book. It presents a comprehensive picture of the medical enterprise. It offers insight into why individuals look for healing and what that healing consists of. While having a particular focus on the West – and especially Britain (due to its Cambridge origins) – this book attempts to integrate other forms of healing into its analyses, like homeopathy, acupuncture, and so-called alternative medicine. American medicine is frequently referenced, perhaps because of its disproportionate impact on world medicine through research.
Medical research is also well-covered in this history alongside clinical medicine. Philosophical underpinnings, like the mechanistic view of the body popularized in the Renaissance, are explained in light of the developing influence they garnered. This book does not explain in detail non-Western forms of medicine, but straightforwardly admits this fact in the text. It does treat those forms of medicine in passing.
As alluded to in the title, numerous illustrations are provided and deepen readers’ experiences. Indeed, in a sensory field like medicine, these images are almost essential. A newer edition of this book exists, one without “illustrated” in the title; I do not know if these images exist in that text, but I chose this book because of the need for good images. Indeed, this book could serve as a good book for a physician’s or nurse’s coffee table. For those looking to dig deeper into particular topics in the history of medicine, an appendix of references is provided.
This book meets several potential audiences. Medical trainees are first among those. Anyone interested in the medical enterprise in an international setting – its past, present, and future – can benefit from a read. Also, current practitioners of the medical arts can brush up on their knowledge of the past. Mysteries of the present can be explained through stories of the past – I found this to be the case several times during my reading. This book deals with an important topic, one often overlooked by education’s science-heavy curricula. Perhaps another generation can benefit from reading its contents.
December 26, 2019
I read the "non-illustrated" version of the book. It's a collection of essays and explored all facets of the field. I've enjoyed the the breadth of the book, and while it'd be nice to have a coherent narrative, the book outlines the complexities of the field and surprising origins of some of the medical institutions of today.
August 3, 2022
Nogal droog geschreven en naarmate je verder leest, zeker het einde, wordt het toch wel duidelijk dat het boek al verouderd is. Zo wordt er nog gesproken over de kinderschoenen van het Humaan Genoom Project, in 2022 is dit al lang afgerond op de nieuwe ontdekkingen na
November 8, 2021
Solid overview book. Very general but gives a good sweeping history over time. Encourages further reading.
July 3, 2023
"The study of the history of medicine teaches us about the diversity of human experience and the limitations of our knowledge."
September 29, 2013
I have never been interested in the history of medical sciences. I have indirectly and in ad hoc heard of its advancements and set backs, but I have never had the curousity or interest to pursue a more in depth knowledge of it. My view has been: human being is her best physician and pharmacist. No two people are alike, therefore no two people's health strengths and weaknesses can be put in the same category despite similar symptoms. My quick and superficial readings of medical advancements or lack of it, left me suspicious of its benefit. When a life event put me in an uncomfortable proximity of medicine, one that I had no choice but to surrender to the risk of its flaws, and inaccuracies in the hope, it will help, I became really interested in reading about it.
I didn't read the "Illustrated" version, but that's the only version available in Goodreads. The Cambridge History of Medicine, is a collection of ten articles written by various medical historians or medical physicians. The titles explore the history and rise of medicine and its evolution through years as well as the care system, the hospitals and the pharmacology.
As we settled down in one place and started changing and manipulating our evironment to sustain us, we became "magnets for disease." Farming and domesticizing exposed the human body to pathogens. These pathogens invaded the human body and killed mercilessly. Those who survived the disease became immune to it. This way, human body developed a sophisticated immune system. [Para-phrasing Chapter 1 - The History of Disease, by Kenneth f. Kiple]
So, I guess we can call disease an inadvertent invention of civilization.
The last two chapters, "Looking to the Future (1996)" and "Looking to the Future (2006)" by Geoff Watts is thought provoking. Despite the enthusiasm and ingenious ideas, such as personalized medicine, and gene-therapy, medical system is bound by funding, often providied by the government and/or private sources. There is --no-- effective world body to orchestrate the effort, guide and direct it in the direction per the defined necessity and priority and make it easily available to everyone --from all walks of life, to poor and rich alike.
I didn't read the "Illustrated" version, but that's the only version available in Goodreads. The Cambridge History of Medicine, is a collection of ten articles written by various medical historians or medical physicians. The titles explore the history and rise of medicine and its evolution through years as well as the care system, the hospitals and the pharmacology.
As we settled down in one place and started changing and manipulating our evironment to sustain us, we became "magnets for disease." Farming and domesticizing exposed the human body to pathogens. These pathogens invaded the human body and killed mercilessly. Those who survived the disease became immune to it. This way, human body developed a sophisticated immune system. [Para-phrasing Chapter 1 - The History of Disease, by Kenneth f. Kiple]
So, I guess we can call disease an inadvertent invention of civilization.
The last two chapters, "Looking to the Future (1996)" and "Looking to the Future (2006)" by Geoff Watts is thought provoking. Despite the enthusiasm and ingenious ideas, such as personalized medicine, and gene-therapy, medical system is bound by funding, often providied by the government and/or private sources. There is --no-- effective world body to orchestrate the effort, guide and direct it in the direction per the defined necessity and priority and make it easily available to everyone --from all walks of life, to poor and rich alike.
February 21, 2014
Good: an interesting topic explained thematically and chronologically. Charts the development of many key ideas and trends in medicine, especially as medicine developed from its shaman roots to an observational then scientific medicine.
Bad: excessively verbose, often repetitive. The actual content is stretched and repeated while actual facts are usually skimmed part, but perhaps this is the intention of the authors. Overall, this is more a social history of Medicine, only 1-2 chapters seriously delve into the scientific and technical details. As a person in the medical field, this book disappoints. There are also very few interesting stories or personalities, there is mostly bland generalizing of historical themes.
Bad: excessively verbose, often repetitive. The actual content is stretched and repeated while actual facts are usually skimmed part, but perhaps this is the intention of the authors. Overall, this is more a social history of Medicine, only 1-2 chapters seriously delve into the scientific and technical details. As a person in the medical field, this book disappoints. There are also very few interesting stories or personalities, there is mostly bland generalizing of historical themes.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews