Breakthrough!: How the 10 Greatest Discoveries in Medicine Saved Millions and Changed Our View of the World

Jon Queijo

Language: English

Published: Mar 30, 2010

Description:

Review

"This very well-written, cogent, and accessible book by freelance writer Queijo will be an important resource, especially for a lay audience. Each of the ten medical discoveries mentioned in the title is really a chapter delimiting the history of medicine. Chapters range from The World[HTML_REMOVED]s First Physician: Hippocrates and the Discovery of Medicine[HTML_REMOVED] to [HTML_REMOVED]A Return to Tradition: The Rediscovery of Alternative Medicine.[HTML_REMOVED] This book deserves a very wide readership. Especially useful for general readers, it also will be applicable in undergraduate education across a surprising range of disciplines." Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates, general readers, and researchers/faculty. Reprinted with permission from CHOICE, copyright by the American Library Association.

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.