Explorers of the body - Hardcover

Lehrer, Steven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385134975 ISBN 13: 9780385134972

Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1979

Synopsis

How does the body work? This question has intrigued and occupied mankind since soothsayers first peered into animal entrails. From the primitive medicine of ancient Egypt to the mind-boggling achievements of modern laboratories, the healing craft has been a fascinating part of man's progress. Explorers of the Body is a history of medicine told through lively stories of the men and women who made the great breakthroughs in our understanding of human Edward Jenner, Gregor Mendel, Marie Curie, Jonas Salk, William Harvey, Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, and many others. " Explorers of the Body is an exceptionally good book, both amusing and educational." -Isaac Bashevis Singer “Lots of good medical lore—and juicy.” - Kirkus Reviews “The author has accomplished a tour de force.” - Nature “An engrossing account of the medical milestones upon which 20th Century medicine is based.” - Library Journal “Factual accounts often stranger and more dramatic than fiction…Among the many lively anecdotes is the story of the unusual collaboration between bacteriologist-writer Paul de Kruif and Sinclair Lewis, which produced the latter's prize-winning novel Arrowsmith .” - Publishers Weekly

About this title

From the Inside Flap

From Hippocrates, who is credited with turning the science of healing from the supernatural to the rational, to the pioneers of genetic engineering, EXPLORERS OF THE BODY is studded with the innovations, inspired guesses, shocking scandals, the jealousies, high drama, corruption and occasional dumb luck of the shapers of medical history. Anecdotal, accessible, as entertaining as it is informative, EXPLORERS OF THE BODY is popularly-written science in the lively tradition of Sagan's THE DRAGONS OF EDEN and Bronowski's THE ASCENT OF MAN.

It is healthy to have this readable antidote to the medical profession's sanitized portraits of itself...much fascinating information.
New York Times Book Review

From the Back Cover

"I enjoyed the book very much and I think that its strong points are the hundreds of little known facts about medicine and early medical pioneers. As a physician, I thought that I had at one time or another come into contact with most of the important points of medical history, but it is obvious from Dr. Lehrer's book that I had just scratched the surface. I think that it is a fascinating book."
Richard Restak, M.D.
author of The Brain: The Last Frontier (Doubleday 1979)

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
• Publication date: 1979
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385134975
• ISBN 13: 9780385134972
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: B/w Photos
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 463