Breakthrough! How the 10 Greatest Discoveries in Medicine Saved Millions and Changed Our View of the World
Posted by admin in Kindle Tuesday, 31 August 2010 11:47 5 Comments
Product Description
10 World-Changing Revolutions in Medicine…and the Remarkable Human Discoveries That Made Them Possible The unforgettable life-or-death stories behind antibiotics, vaccines, DNA, X-rays, and more What happened, how it happened, and what it means to you today A colorful cast of characters whose discoveries were often driven not only by personal tragedy, curiosity, and hard work, but petty bickering, dumb luck, and a healthy dose of humor For anyone… More >>
Don’t pay any attention to the other “reviews” They did not address the book at all, but only their greedy attitude about a free previews of a book. When I bought this preview, it plainly said it was a preview, & included only the introduction & chapter one. The introduction & chapter one were extremely interesting, telling how the practice of medicine began, with some discussion of the greatest discoveries in medicine. It’s well written, and easy for the layman to understand. Now that the preview is not available, I suggest we all buy this book, & fairly review it.
Rating: 5 / 5
Really Really Good. I learned some things about humanity here. As our system of capitalism rids itself of free enterprise it seems to be boiling down to a colder and colder form of global tyranny and it’s interesting to see how that greed and avarice sometimes results in miracles for everybody. God is still working I think (and this book has nothing to do with God)…but the clay is getting drier and drier.
Rating: 5 / 5
I loved reading this book. It was very interesting to learn about how people realized some of these “breakthroughs”, but also it was interesting to see how people responded (most of which were skeptical). Also, I like to think in my head how life was before some of these breakthroughs were discovered. Must read!
Rating: 5 / 5
I read the entire book (not just a preview as other reviewers did) and enjoyed it immensely. The author was able to take normally dry-as-dust information and make it very readable and approachable for all ages from YA up, and for those who have no medical background or knowledge. The breakthroughs listed were all very insightful, and the background given on each was detailed and informative without being stoodgy or an information overload. The 10th chapter, on alternative medicine appears somewhat controversial, but it is still very interesting reading. It also provides a real-life example of the human stubbornness, close-mindedness, and adversion to change that made all the prior 9 breakthroughs have to wait years, decades, even generations, before they were accepted. An excellent, easy read, and highly recommended for anyone looking for a little insight on how medicine has changed peoples’ lives through history. Incidentally, what breakthroughs to list were not determined by the author, but by a general poll, where the 11,000+ responses were broken down to a ‘top 15′ and then to a ‘top 10′ (this is explained in some detail in the introduction/preface).
Rating: 4 / 5
The author describes what he believes are the 10 greatest discoveries in medicine that have saved millions, etc. 9 of them are uncontroversial discoveries that have been on other top-10 lists, but his 10th choice is one that no other list of top discoveries has ever included. He realizes that, and even admits in his introduction that a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine refused to review his book because there is no such thing as alternative medicine, only treatments that work and treatments that don’t. But he “respectfully disagrees.”
Hippocrates’ discovery that disease had natural causes, sanitation, germ theory, anesthesia, X-rays, vaccines, antibiotics, genetics, and treatments for mental disorders are all worthy candidates for the list. But Queijo ludicrously lists the “rediscovery of alternative medicine” as the tenth “great discovery.” He presents no evidence (because there is no evidence) that alternative medicine has “saved millions” or that it has saved anyone. He doesn’t realize that alternative medicine represents a betrayal of exactly the kind of rigorous scientific thinking and testing that led to all the other discoveries. His list of ten breakthroughs is actually a list of 9 breakthroughs and one breakdown.
He tells compelling human-interest stories about the discoveries. The complexities, the mis-steps, the near-misses, and the ups and downs make fascinating reading. He offers fascinating tidbits of historical information. He tells how, in the early days after the discovery of x-rays, Thomas Edison received a request to “Please send me one pound of X-rays and bill as soon as possible.”
Most of the book is entertaining and informative, but in the chapter on alternative medicine, Queijo loses it entirely. He seems to think that modern medicine has become so fixated on diseases and technology that alternative medicine had to rediscover that diseases occur in people. He criticizes the reductionism of the scientific approach, but offers no evidence that a non-reductionist approach has ever resulted in discoveries or provided better patient outcomes. He sees the struggles between scientific medicine and alternative medicine as politically motivated turf wars rather than as efforts to establish the truth.
He accepts homeopathy uncritically and seems to think it is supported by science. He likes the idea of homeopathy because it “shares some underlying values seen in ancient traditional medicines” such as vitalistic energy concepts, detailed interviews to inquire into every detail of the patient’s life, stressing the healer-patient relationship, and deriving many of its remedies from natural products.
He says, “Alternative medicine offered something Western medicine had too often abandoned: the view that every patient was an individual, that natural treatments were sometimes better than dramatic surgery and dangerous drugs; and that the essence of medicine begins with a caring relationship between healer and patient.”
This is a straw man argument that badly mischaracterizes mainstream medicine, and it fails to show that alternative medicine has any advantage over scientific medicine practiced with judgment and empathy. He even goes as far as to accuse the stethoscope of being a nefarious device that distances practitioners from patients! He calls its invention “a dark omen for the terrible turn Western medicine was about to take.” Now, really!
Much of this book is an eloquent paean to the value of science. Unfortunately, it abandons science in its discussion of alternative medicine. It deteriorates into apologetics for belief-based medicine based on misunderstandings and opinions rather than on any evidence. Alternative medicine represents a breakdown of the process that led to the real breakthroughs.
If you read this book, I recommend skipping chapter 10.
Rating: 2 / 5