|
Breakthrough!: How the 10 Greatest Discoveries in Medicine Saved Millions and Changed Our View of the World |  | Author: Jon Queijo
Publisher: FT Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $12.99
as of 9/9/2010 01:45 MDT details
You Save: $12.00 (48%)
New (28) Used (6) from $9.99
Seller: johnrguthrie@roadrunner.com
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 115444
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0137137486
Dewey Decimal Number: 610.72
EAN: 9780137137480
ASIN: 0137137486
Publication Date: March 7, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
"A wonderfully clear account of the great moments in medicine and a powerful reminder of the possibility of improvement in the fight against illness." -–Matt Ridley, author of Genome 10 World-Changing Revolutions in Medicine...and the Remarkable Human Discoveries That Made Them Possible • The unforgettable life-or-death stories behind antibiotics, vaccines, DNA, X-rays, and more • What happened, how it happened, and what it means to you today • A colorful cast of characters whose discoveries were often driven not only by personal tragedy, curiosity, and hard work, but petty bickering, dumb luck, and a healthy dose of humor • For anyone interested in science, medicine, and beyond... Why are you alive right now? Chances are, you owe your life to one of the remarkable medical discoveries in this book. Maybe it was vaccines. Or antibiotics. Or X-rays. Revolutionary medical breakthroughs like these haven’t just changed the way we treat disease, they’ve transformed how we understand ourselves and the world we live in. In Breakthrough!, Jon Queijo tells the hidden stories behind 10 of history’s most amazing medical discoveries. This isn’t dry history: These are life-and-death mysteries uncovered, tales of passionate, often-mocked individuals who stood their ground and were proven right. From germs to genetics, the ancient Hippocrates to the cutting edge, these are stories that have changed the world–and, quite likely, saved your life.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 Very Informative August 19, 2010
Monica Taylor
I loved reading this book. It was very interesting to learn about how people realized some of these "breakthroughs", but also it was interesting to see how people responded (most of which were skeptical). Also, I like to think in my head how life was before some of these breakthroughs were discovered. Must read!
Thought-provoking September 7, 2010
Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA)
This book provides an overview of the most important developments in the history of medical science. Queijo is a journalist with a longstanding interest in medicine. In this book, he selects 10 developments in medical history, describes how they came about and details their impact on public health. The developments Queijo chose for this project include Hippocrates and his approach to scientific medicine, sanitation, germ theory, anesthesia, X-rays, vaccines, antibiotics, genetics, psychoactive medications, and alternative health care. In each chapter, Queijo provides a brief description of the historical context in which the development or discovery was made, often including case histories, then he identifies a series of "milestones", illustrating that these historic developments were not instantaneous discoveries, but rather long, often vitriolic processes, in which a series of crucial clues had to be uncovered, discussed, and further researched before being accepted as scientific truths or proper practices. End material includes a listing of the milestones and a list of references for further reading.
I found this book quite interesting as well as informative. Queijo's descriptions of key medical discoveries, while brief, include background details that aren't as well known as the popular myths that have grown up around such stories as Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin. What makes Queijo's accounts unique is that he stresses the long processes of discovery, and he emphasizes throughout the book that when evidence necessitating a paradigm shift is discovered, acceptance of the new ideas is not immediate, but rather takes many years and repeated efforts on the part of the researchers. Current practitioners may be extremely skeptical, and may never accept new approaches to old problems, despite the overwhelming evidence.
Although the book is quite well-written, Queijo's choice of the last two topics, psychoactive medicines and alternative health care seem a bit idiosyncratic and out of balance with the rest of the book. These topics are certainly important, but it's hard to see them as having the same magnitude of effects as the previous topics. Perhaps because these developments are still under way, their full impact is not yet apparent. If I were to enumerate my own choices of the 10 most important developments for medicine and public health, I would want to include the application of statistics and double-blind trials somewhere on the list, a topic that might subsume both psychoactive medicines and alternative health care. In any case, the book provides an informative and critical overview of medical history and the ethics of medical research.
Utterly Fascinating August 10, 2010
Rick L. Parrish
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Really Really Good. I learned some things about humanity here. As our system of capitalism rids itself of free enterprise it seems to be boiling down to a colder and colder form of global tyranny and it's interesting to see how that greed and avarice sometimes results in miracles for everybody. God is still working I think (and this book has nothing to do with God)...but the clay is getting drier and drier.
Extremely interesting March 10, 2010
Avid Reader (Ohio Valley)
2 out of 16 found this review helpful
Don't pay any attention to the other "reviews" They did not address the book at all, but only their greedy attitude about a free previews of a book. When I bought this preview, it plainly said it was a preview, & included only the introduction & chapter one. The introduction & chapter one were extremely interesting, telling how the practice of medicine began, with some discussion of the greatest discoveries in medicine. It's well written, and easy for the layman to understand. Now that the preview is not available, I suggest we all buy this book, & fairly review it.
Very Interesting and Approachable August 17, 2010
SingleEyePhotos
I read the entire book (not just a preview as other reviewers did) and enjoyed it immensely. The author was able to take normally dry-as-dust information and make it very readable and approachable for all ages from YA up, and for those who have no medical background or knowledge. The breakthroughs listed were all very insightful, and the background given on each was detailed and informative without being stoodgy or an information overload. The 10th chapter, on alternative medicine appears somewhat controversial, but it is still very interesting reading. It also provides a real-life example of the human stubbornness, close-mindedness, and adversion to change that made all the prior 9 breakthroughs have to wait years, decades, even generations, before they were accepted. An excellent, easy read, and highly recommended for anyone looking for a little insight on how medicine has changed peoples' lives through history. Incidentally, what breakthroughs to list were not determined by the author, but by a general poll, where the 11,000+ responses were broken down to a 'top 15' and then to a 'top 10' (this is explained in some detail in the introduction/preface).
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. | |
