A fascinating journey through the history of medicine, packed with first-hand accounts of incredible breakthroughs and tragic failures Immerse yourself in the history of medicine - a story of skill, serendipity, trial and error, moments of genius, and dogged determination. From traditional chinese medicine to today's sophisticated gene therapies and robotic surgery, A Short History of Medicine combines riveting storytelling and beautiful images, historical accounts and lucid explanations, to illuminate the story of medicine through time. Witness early, bloody, anaesthetic-free operations; see the first crude surgical instruments; trace the mapping of the circulatory system; follow the painstaking detective work that led to the decoding of the human genome; and understand the role that potions, cures, therapies, herbal medicines, and drugs have played in the human quest to tame and conquer disease, injury, and death.