An alarming history of medicine - for fellow cynics

The history of medicine is a fascinating subject; the story how we came from ignorance to fractionally less ignorance throughout thousands of years of trial and error.

The Alarming History of Medicine: Amusing anecdotes from Hippocrates to Heart Transplants by Richard Gordon tells the tale of medical advancements as viewed by a fellow cynic. I particularly like the description of the doctors of yore who have shaped the clinical medicine of today "all clever, some cunning, the lucky ones anointed with inspiration or serendipidy, many of them simply abnormally obsessive classifiers of men and microbes, or simply abnormally deft fingers." This book serves as an inspiration for todays struggling clinicials as no matter what conundrum faces you on a ward round, someone else has faced the same prediciment before and undoubtably they did not have the internet to turn to for help.

For a sneek peek click here.