"In this volume, F. Gonzalez-Crussi presents a brief yet authoritative five-hundred-year history of the science, the philosophy,and the controversies of modern medicine. While this illuminating work mainly explores Western medicine over the past five centuries, Gonzalez-Crussi also describes how modern medicine's roots extend to both Greco-Roman antiquity and Eastern medical traditions." "Covered here in detail are the birth of anatomy and the practice of dissections; the transformation of surgery from a gruesome art to a sophisticated medical specialty; a short history of infectious diseases; the evolution of the diagnostic process; advances in obstetrics and anesthesia; and modern psychiatric therapies and the challenges facing organized medicine today. Gonzalez-Crussi's approach to these and other topics stems from his professed belief that the history of medicine isn't just a continuum of scientific achievement but is deeply influenced by the personalities of the men and women who made or implemented these breakthroughs."--BOOK JACKET.