From the author of How We Die, the extraordinary story of the development of modern medicine, told through the lives of the physician-scientists who paved the way. How does medical science advance? Popular historians would have us believe that a few heroic individuals, possessing superhuman talents, lead an unselfish quest to better the human condition. But as renowned Yale surgeon and medical historian Sherwin B. Nuland shows in this brilliant collection of linked life portraits, the theory bears little resemblance to the truth. Through the centuries, the men and women who have shaped the world of medicine have been not only very human, but also very much the products of their own times and places. Presenting compelling studies of great medical innovators and pioneers, Doctors gives us a fascinating history of modern medicine. Ranging from the legendary Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, to Andreas Vesalius, whose Renaissance masterwork on anatomy offered invaluable new insight into the human body, to Helen Taussig, founder of pediatric cardiology and co-inventor of the original "blue baby" operation, here is a volume filled with the spirit of ideas and the thrill of discovery.

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"A first-person narrative that takes readers inside the medical profession as one doctor solves real-life medical mysteries"--Provided by publisher.

“A vibrant, original portrait of a man of contradictions,” the Renaissance-era Swiss father of modern medicine (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, who called himself Paracelsus, stands at the cusp of medieval and modern times. A contemporary of Luther, an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, an army surgeon, and a radical theologian, he attracted myths even before he died. His fantastic journeys across Europe and beyond were said to be made on a magical white horse, and he was rumored to carry the elixir of life in the pommel of his great broadsword. His name was linked with Faust, who bargained with the devil. Who was the man behind these stories? Some have accused him of being a charlatan, a windbag who filled his books with wild speculations and invented words. Others claim him to be the father of modern medicine. Philip Ball exposes a more complex truth in The Devil’s Doctor—one that emerges only by entering Paracelsus’s time. He explores the intellectual, political, and religious undercurrents of the sixteenth century and looks at how doctors really practiced, at how people traveled, and at how wars were fought. For Paracelsus was a product of an age of change and strife, of renaissance and reformation. And yet by uniting the diverse disciplines of medicine, biology, and alchemy, he assisted, almost despite himself, in the birth of science and the emergence of the age of rationalism. Praise for The Devil’s Doctor “An enlivening portrait that will spark interest in [Paracelsus’s] role in the rise of science.” —Booklist “A true iconoclast, [Paraclesus] inhabited an ideological landscape somewhere between the medieval and the modern. Ball effectively places Paracelsus in the larger context of Renaissance magic and philosophy, and of a turbulent period. . . . Worth the effort.” —Kirkus Reviews

Biographies of scientists carry an increasingly prominent role in today's publishing climate. Traditional historical and sociological accounts of science are complemented by narratives that emphasize the importance of the scientific subject in the production of science. Not least is the realization that the role of science in culture is much more accessible when presented through the lives of its practitioners. Taken as a genre, such biographies play an important role in the public understanding of science. In recent years there has been an increasing number of monographs and collections about biography in general and literary biography in particular. However, biographies of scientists, engineers and medical doctors have rarely been the topic of scholarly inquiry. As such this volume of essays will be welcomed by those interested in the genre of science biography, and who wish to re-examine its history, foundational problems and theoretical implications. Borrowing approaches and methods from cultural studies and the history, philosophy and sociology of science, the contributions cover a broad range of subjects, periods and locations. By presenting such a rich diversity of essays, the volume is able to chart the reoccurring conceptual problems and devices that have influenced scientific biographies from classical antiquity to the present day. In so doing it provides a compelling overview of the history of the genre, suggesting that the different valuations given scientific biography over time have been largely fuelled by vested professional interests.

Establishing endocrinology as a distinct medical specialty was no easy task. This engaging volume chronicles the journey through the stories of the men –and occasional women—who shaped the specialty through the ages. In 108 brief chapters, A Biographical History of Endocrinology illuminates the progress of endocrinology from Hippocrates to the modern day. The author highlights important leaders and their contributions to the field, including these early pioneers: Kos and Alexandria, and the first human anatomy Bartolomeo Eustachi and the adrenal gland Richard Lower and the pituitary gland Thomas Addison and adrenal insufficiency Franz Leydig and testosterone secreting cells Wiliam Stewart Halsted and surgery of the thyroid gland John J. Abel and isolation of hormones Hakaru Hashimoto and his disease Covering all the watershed moments in the history of the profession, the book identifies key figures whose contributions remain relevant today. Their fascinating stories of experiments and studies, advocacy and adversity, and exploring unknown territory will inspire the next generation of endocrinologists and satisfy every clinician who ever wondered "how did we get here?" This comprehensive yet concise biographical history of endocrinology will benefit not only practicing and prospective endocrinologists, but also other medical specialists and medical historians.