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The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
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The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity Paperback - 1999 - 1st Edition

by Roy Porter

Porter's charting of the history of medicine affords readers the opportunity as never before to assess its culture and science and its costs and benefits to humankind. "A splendid and thoroughly engrossing book."--"L.A. Times." of illustrations.


From the publisher

Hailed as "a remarkable achievement" (Boston Globe) and as "a triumph: simultaneously entertaining and instructive, witty and thought-provoking...a splendid and thoroughly engrossing book" (Los Angeles Times), Roy Porter's charting of the history of medicine affords us an opportunity as never before to assess its culture and science and its costs and benefits to mankind. Porter explores medicine's evolution against the backdrop of the wider religious, scientific, philosophical, and political beliefs of the culture in which it develops, covering ground from the diseases of the hunter-gatherers to the more recent threats of AIDS and Ebola, from the clearly defined conviction of the Hippocratic oath to the muddy ethical dilemmas of modern-day medicine. Offering up a treasure trove of historical surprises along the way, this book "has instantly become the standard single-volume work in its field" (The Lancet).

First line

THESE ARE STRANGE TIMES, when we are healthier than ever but more anxious about our health.

Details

  • Title The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
  • Author Roy Porter
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 872
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher W. W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, U.s.a.
  • Date 1999-10-01
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780393319804 / 0393319806
  • Weight 2.3 lbs (1.04 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.22 x 6.16 x 1.24 in (23.42 x 15.65 x 3.15 cm)
  • Themes
    • Topical: Family
  • Library of Congress subjects Medicine - History, Social medicine - History
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 98010219
  • Dewey Decimal Code 610.9

Media reviews

Citations

  • Ingram Advance, 10/01/1999, Page 178
  • New York Times, 12/12/1999, Page 48
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The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity (The Norton History of Science)
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The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity (The Norton History of Science)

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The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity (The Norton History of Science)
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The Greatest Benefit to Mankind : A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present

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