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TINCTURE OF TIME: A Concise History of Medicine surveys the major and seismic forces that shaped the evolution of Western medicine. The study progresses chronologically in its examination of ancient medical practices, the classical period, Byzantium, Arabic and monastic medieval medicine, annihilating epidemics and plagues, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment periods, hospital centered 19th century medicine, women in medicine and the spectacular advances of 20th century medicine. It intersperses throughout comparisons with eastern medicine in the same time frames. The evolution of Western medicine is discussed in the context of the seminal discoveries that have informed modern medicine and describes the physicians - still renowned and those long forgotten - responsible. It assesses the snail paced progress from superstition, prejudice and the application of dangerous misconceptions and erroneous thinking to the sound, unassailable principles that emerged through experiment, insightful inquisition, and even serendipitous and accidental findings, . Incorporated into the saga of the jagged progress in medical thought and practice is the degree to which political and institutional forces abetted / hindered medical advancement.

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9781466449282

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A.R. Colon teaches history and clinical medicine at Georgetown University, School of Medicine. He has over 175 publications and additionally, with P.A. Colon, ten books, He lectures nationally and internationally on both medical and historical topics. P.A. Colon is a freelance writer. Praise for prior books by the authors: Nurturing Children: A History of Pediatrics, Westport Ct, Greenwood Press, 1999. In this ambitious and highly readable book, A.R. Colon and P.A. Colon have done an admirable job of extracting threads of pediatric medicine from a mass of sources dating from the beginning of recorded history, and provide fascinating reading for anyone interested in the history of child health....The Colons also show the historic intertwining of pediatrics with public health and social policy.... Alan Meyers, MD, MPH. JAMA 2000; Vol. 284: 2250-2251. Nurturing Children: A History of Pediatrics ...Anticipating readers from diverse backgrounds, Colon has provided not only medical interpretations of the chosen texts, but also historical, social, geographic, and even botanical information, when deemed relevant....most readers and physicians in particular, will be stimulated and intrigued by the technical information lavishly provided by Colon. Apart from being most readable...this work should be useful...other disciplines, including the social sciences, will find here analysis and samples of pediatric writings that will inspire them to further research. The Colons are to be congratulated for tackling a diffuse topic and thus making a general history of pediatrics once again available. Elizabeth Lomax, Bulletin of the History of Medicine 2001; Vol. 75; 174-175. A History of Children: A Socio-Cultural Survey Across Millennia, Westport CT, Greenwood Press, 2001. ...these two astute writers examine the quality of children's lives over the centuries, giving us much to think about concerning human behavior towards offspring...they explore the cultural milieu of the young in ancient and modern societies, fashioned by economic circumstances, mystic obsessions, religious fervor, superstitious fears, forced migrations, or the vicissitudes of hunger, disease, aggression and war...in providing us with this exceptional historical perspective on children...the authors have written elegantly and extensively on a subject that is truly mind broadening... Philip R. Harris, PhD. European Business Review 2002; Vol. 14: 63-64.

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