Did you know: that the world's first eye surgeon, who lived 2500 years ago, came from India? Or that the standard textbook on medicine-for 600 years!-was written by a self-taught physician from Persia? Or that it was a seventeenth-century cloth merchant from Europe who discovered microorganisms? Discover dozens of 'No way!' nuggets like these in this fun, info-packed romp through 2500 years of human health and healing. And prepare to be gobsmacked, entertained and inspired by the stories behind some of the most significant medical breakthroughs in history, and the extraordinary men and women behind them. Featuring groundbreaking ideas, trivia, factoids, and more, this book will make you question your notions of what makes a person 'whole'. And it will fill you with wonder at the innovations, inventions and discoveries that have made-and are continuing to make-the young science of modern medicine.
This is a beautifully written book and a must read for adults and children alike. Divided into four sections by time, 160BCE to 200 CE; 200 CE to 1700 CE; 1700 CE to 1900 CE and 1900 CE onwards, this book talks about 25 ideas that make modern medicine. The author has presented presents facts related to medicine. Written in a simple language, this book, talks about how things have changed from then to now. The illustrations are beautiful and the author has also mentioned many details as we move along. But my only problem with the book is the paper quality, which could have been better, making this book an essential book for every home. The quiz at the end is interesting. Loved the book, and read it slowly, hence the late review.
This book explores 25 ideas that made ( and are making ) modern medicine. It narrates the stories of how the discovery of vitamins saved thousands of sailors, how making the surgeons wash their hands regularly saved the lives of thousands of womens, how Marie Curie helped in saving the lives of soldiers during the World War 1, and a lot more hows.
It is divided into 4 sections, namely - Section 1 : 1600 BCE - 200 CE Section 2 : 200 CE - 1700 CE Section 3 : 1700 CE - 1900 CE Section 4 : 1900 CE Onwards
All these sections comprise of the development and situation of medicine in their respective time periods. It's knowledgeable and well-written in terms of its writing style. The illustrations are absorbing and interesting. It has about 25 ideas (or chapters), each dealing with a detailed study of discoveries like how we finally had an understanding of the circulatory system, how vaccination came, how stethoscope was invented, how anaesthesia came, etc.
It also has a quiz page in the end to test your knowledge of the overall book. Along with all the knowledge, the narration is also engrossing and reader-friendly.
If you have a curious mind, then you should totally grab this book!
Reading of this book was like, reading Indian Bill Bryson. This book starts as boring, then slowly it manages to be average and in the middle you feel it is good but man! … as step further into this, it just rises exponentially to become mind-blowing. I mean, this is Superb!
A very detailed and simple language explanation of medical and medicine history of last 2500 years. I don't know why this book is not so much popular. These kind of books should be included in school curriculum at least. I did have low expectation from this but this book proved me wrong. Thank God, I picked it.
The author (and the publishing team behind) marketed this book as Children book ... again this is deception, people of any age can learn (enjoy and know) from this book. Full glowing stars to this ... :)
Covering 2500 years of medicine into 300 pages was never going to be easy. The book skirts over many important stories, but the ones it does tell are sure to blow your mind. To be honest, that's what I went in for: stories. And it has lots of them.
Florence Nightingale, Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner, John Snow, Alexander Fleming, Ignaz Semmelweis, Ronald Ross, Philippe Pinel, Robert Koch, Paul Ehrlich, Waldemar Haffkine, Marie Curie, Theodor Kocher, Christiaan Barnard and many more. Each of these stories are awe-inspiring and amusing.
With the ‘Fit India’ movement doing rounds in the town, From Leeches to Slug Glue is the right book to hold on to. As humans, we often ignore the difficult things and hang on to the simpler ones. Say, for example, if we have been diagnosed with a disease, we would do all sorts of research on the Interner because ostensibly Google is the new doctor but we do not even make an attempt to understand why have we been diagnosed with the disease. Were our food habits wrong? Were we careless with our hygiene? Or is it a result of genetics? We wouldn’t know.
As said by the author, Medicine is definitely the youngest science, for every other day new inventions and new treatments make way for the headlines. Right from the leeches to slug glue, modern medicine has seen an explosive growth till now. Roopa Pai, known for writing some of the most informative books for children, presents facts related to medicine. The book explains how the orthodox methods of treatment had good intentions behind the inhumane procedures and how the same procedures can now be done with so much ease and without giving any pain to the patients.
Any field of human interest will certainly have an enormous amount of past. Medicine is one such field. It has played an indomitable role in transforming the life of humanity.
Roopa Pai has enchantingly captured this past and portrayed it in her usual lively style.
It's full of interesting titbits, some of them surprising too like a picture of Dhanvantri, Hindu God of Medicine, holding a leech in one hand.
This book seeks to cover the historic aspects of the development of medical sciences,