Medical Marvels: the 100 greatest advances in medicine
By, Straus, Eugene W.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Class No.: 610 STR
Accession No.: 016209
Year: 2006
Pages: 425 p.

Of the week: 09th Mar. 2009 to 14th Mar. 2009

At a time when healthcare management corporations are transforming the once intimate doctor-patient relationship into an impersonal provider-customer transaction, it is increasingly difficult for both doctors and the public at large to view medicine as an idealistic calling devoted solely to healing the sick. Yet the history of medicine is filled with dedicated individuals whose greatest motivation was and is a selfless passion to treat and cure illness.

In this inspiring book, Dr. Eugene W. Straus-acclaimed author of Roslyn Yalow, Nobel Laureate-and journalist Alex Straus celebrate the noble science and art of medicine by highlighting the one hundred greatest medical advances. More than just a compilation of technological achievements, the book also emphasizes the importance of committed individuals who proposed conceptual breakthroughs that made a telling difference to the human condition. From Galen who related the structure of organs to functions, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek whose microscope revealed an unseen world of microbes, William Jenner who advocated the first vaccinations against smallpox, Florence Nightingale who developed the concept of nursing, to Werner Forssman who demonstrated the principle of cardiac catheterization by actually pushing a wire into his own heart, the stories of medical pioneers are consistently fascinating and awe-inspiring.

Emphasizing that medicine should be founded on ethical integrity, compassion, and the encouragement of unfettered scientific research, the authors warn that powerful forces in contemporary society are in danger of seriously neglecting these fundamental principles. This mistake can and must be avoided as we promote the next 100 greatest advances yet to come.

Everyone interested in good healthcare will gain a new appreciation for the achievements and future promise of medicine by reading this absorbing and important book.