Medical Firsts

Robert E. Adler

Description

An exploration of medical discoveries-from the ancient Greeks to the present
"Always help, or at least do no harm." Following this simple yet revolutionary idea, Hippocrates laid the foundation for modern medicine over two millennia ago. From the Hippocratic Oath to the human genome, from Pasteur's germ theory to the worldwide eradication of smallpox, Medical Firsts brings to life 2,500 years of medical advances and discoveries. Organized chronologically, the book describes each milestone in a vivid capsule history, making it a fascinating and wonderfully readable resource for anyone interested in medicine's past progress and future promise.
Robert E. Adler, PhD (Santa Rosa, CA) has worked as a psychologist and science journalist. He writes about a wide variety of scientific and medical topics for New Scientist, Nature, and other publications and is the author of Science Firsts (0-471-40174-9).
Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1. Hippocrates: A Principle and a Method.

2. Herophilus and Erasistratus: The Light That Failed.

3. Marcus Varro: The Germ of an Idea.

4. Soranus: The Birthing Doctor.

5. Galen of Pergamon: Combative Genius.

6. The Enlightened Mind of Abu Bakr al-Razi.

7. Ibn al-Nafis: Galen’s Nemesis.

8. Paracelsus: Renaissance Rebel.

9. Andreas Vesalius: Driven to Dissection.

10. Johann Weyer: A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World.

11. William Harvey and the Movements of the Heart.

12. Edward Jenner: A Friend of Humanity.

13. Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On: The Discovery of Anesthesia.

14. Antisepsis: Awakening from a Nightmare.

15. The Quiet Dr. Snow.

16. Pasteur and the Germ Theory of Disease.

17. Out of the Corner of His Eye: Roentgen Discovers X-rays.

18. Sigmund Freud’s Dynamic Unconscious.

19. Beyond Bacteria: Ivanovsky’s Discovery of Viruses.

20. The Prepared Mind of Alexander Fleming.

21. Margaret Sanger and the Pill.

22. Organ Transplantation: A Legacy of Life.

23. A Baby’s Cry: The Birth of In Vitro Fertilization.

24. Humanity Eradicates a Disease—Smallpox—for the First Time.

25. Cannibals, Kuru, and Mad Cows: A New Kind of Plague.

26. Self, Nonself, and Danger: Deciphering the Immune System.

27. Discovery Can’t Wait: Deciding the Human Genome.

28. Into the Future.

References and Further Reading.

Index.

Sujets

• Hippocratic Oath
• Medicine
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 21 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470313893
• Langue: English

Extrait

Medical Firsts
F ROM H IPPOCRATES TO THE H UMAN G ENOME
Robert E. Adler

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2004 by Robert Adler. All rights reserved
Photo credits: pages 4, 8, 25, 31, 38, 55, 65, 71, 74, 77, 86, 88, 89, 96, 102, 115, 119, 123, 128, 136, 153, 178, 181, 185, 193, 195, 202: National Library of Medicine; page 111: Edgar Fahs Smith Collection, University of Pennsylvania; page 149: Sophia Smith Collection, Nelson Library, Smith College; page 151: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum; page 162: Beaufort-Wes Museum; page 192: Courtesy Polly Matzinger.
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone].
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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ISBN 0-471-40175-7
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To My Father, Hy S. Adler May 14, 1912-February 17, 2002
The kindest, wisest, and most loving man I ve ever known.
He was a source of joy to everyone who had the pleasure and privilege of his company.
He is greatly missed.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Hippocrates: A Principle and a Method
2 Herophilus and Erasistratus: The Light That Failed
3 Marcus Varro: The Germ of an Idea
4 Soranus: The Birthing Doctor
5 Galen of Pergamon: Combative Genius
6 The Enlightened Mind of Abu Bakr al-Razi
7 Ibn al-Nafis: Galen s Nemesis
8 Paracelsus: Renaissance Rebel
9 Andreas Vesalius: Driven to Dissection
10 Johann Weyer: A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World
11 William Harvey and the Movements of the Heart
12 Edward Jenner: A Friend of Humanity
13 Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On: The Discovery of Anesthesia
14 Antisepsis: Awakening from a Nightmare
15 The Quiet Dr. Snow
16 Pasteur and the Germ Theory of Disease
17 Out of the Corner of His Eye: Roentgen Discovers X-rays
18 Sigmund Freud s Dynamic Unconscious
19 Beyond Bacteria: Ivanovsky s Discovery of Viruses
20 The Prepared Mind of Alexander Fleming
21 Margaret Sanger and the Pill
22 Organ Transplantation: A Legacy of Life
23 A Baby s Cry: The Birth of In Vitro Fertilization
24 Humanity Eradicates a Disease-Smallpox-for the First Time
25 Cannibals, Kuru, and Mad Cows: A New Kind of Plague
26 Self, Nonself, and Danger: Deciphering the Immune System
27 Discovery Can t Wait: Deciding the Human Genome
28 Into the Future
References and Further Reading
Index
Acknowledgments
My father, Hy Adler, was a remarkable man. His warmth, creativity, and charm enlarged the lives of everyone who knew him. I basked in his love from the time I was born to the day he died, and carry I that priceless gift in the depths of my heart. Whatever I have accomplished, including this book, I owe to him and to my mother, his inseparable partner in all things. My father was not a doctor, but he certainly was a healer. Everybody who spent time with him left with a lighter heart than when they arrived. He has now left us, but we are enriched by an incredible legacy of memories. Thank you, Dad, for all your gifts, so freely given.
The person who has been closest to the cloud of articles, books, and notes that has swirled around me for the past year is my wife, Jo Ann Wexler. She has managed our lives, nurtured our friendships, and masterminded our escapes with inimitable determination and skill while I concentrated on the book. Without her love, support, and good spirits, I could not have seen this project through to its conclusion. She will always be my muse and my inspiration. I am and always will be deeply grateful to her.
I want to thank Jack Ritchie, circulation supervisor of the Sonoma State University Library. As was the case with my previous book Science Firsts, he and other staff members of the library went out of their way to help me with my research. I am similarly grateful to John Pollack of the Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library for his personal help with the illustrations for both books.
I also want to thank my brother, Les Adler, and our mutual friend Lou Miller for their much-needed and greatly valued creativity, companionship, and intellectual stimulation.
Medical Firsts is just one of dozens of books that would not exist without the steady hand and manifold skills of editor Jeff Golick. He made the process of creating this book as smooth as it could possibly be. I greatly appreciate his vision, patience, and help. Thanks also to editor Mike Thompson for bringing the project to a happy conclusion.
Introduction
Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there also is love for humanity.
-Hippocrates, ca. 400 B.C .
Medicine has ancient roots and branches that embrace every human culture. It is impossible to imagine a human group of any era without some medical tradition-a knowledge of local herbs with healing powers, an understanding of ways to treat common ailments, wounds, and broken bones, a role for the wise old woman, the midwife, or the shaman. Or, failing all of those, the use of amulets, incantations, dances, or prayers to protect or heal. The cognitive explosion that gave our ancestors the ability to navigate from coastal Asia to Australia sixty thousand years ago and to illuminate the depths of European caves with vivid images of cave bears, mammoths, and shamans thirty thousand years ago also gave them the ability-and the drive-to heal.
One signal of this is the existence of hundreds of fossil human skulls with holes cut neatly in them-holes whose edges are smooth from the growth of bone after the operations. The oldest such skull dates back eight thousand years, to the Neolithic or New Stone Age. Surgeons today perform similar operations, called trephination, to remove bone fragments or relieve pressure on the brain. We have no way of knowing why people all over the prehistoric world, from China to Peru, undertook this daring and risky procedure. It is safe to say that they conceived of what they were doing in terms that we would view as magical-for example, as a way of releasing evil spirits. But that does not rule out the possibility that many of those early surgical patients had suffered head injuries and truly benefited from their operations. Remarkably, bone regrowth shows that up to three-quarters of them survived. Many Neolithic skulls carry straight, T-shaped, or oval scars created by deep, clearly deliberate cuts through the scalp or by burning. We don t know why people submitted to what must have been a bloody and painful procedure. But we do know that millennia later, Greek and Arab surgeons similarly cauterized the scalp to treat eye diseases, epilepsy, and depression. The fossil record also records plenty of broken bones-life in the Stone Age was a rough-and-tumble affair. Enough of those fractures healed to suggest that our hunter-gatherer forebears knew how to straighten a broken limb and immobilize it in a splint.
Pollen records and plant remains tell us that as soon as people began to raise food crops, they also grew and gathered plants with medicinal-and often mind-altering-properties. In addition, they sought out mineral springs even where they had access to unlimited supplies of fresh water. Presumably they sought relief from a variety of ailments by drinking or soaking in the mineral-laden waters, just as people do today. And always and everywhere archaeologists find statues, amulets, and drawings. The use of symbols and rituals to ensure fertility, ward off illness, and maintain individual, social, and spiritual well-being goes back sixty millennia or more.
A different kind of clue concerning the richness of our medical heritage comes from anthropologists studying indigenous groups throughout the world. Almost all cultures demonstrate an intimate knowledge of their environment, including an encyclopedic understanding of the plants and animals that surround them. Most indigenous people utilize an enormously wide range of plant and animal products to provide themselves with food, clothing, shelter-and medicine. Remedies and treatments for common and more serious ailments abound. The art of finding, preparing, and using healing plants is passed from mother to daughter, father to son, or healer to acolyte. Today ethnobotanists go to enormous lengths to uncover and scrutinize such cul