Doctors

 

 I think for most of us, we take our doctors for granted (ignoring what it costs these days). We expect them to patch up scrapes and solve medical mysteries. If we only understood their training and how doctors have evolved over time, we can better understand how to communicate with them. Doctors: the illustrated history of medical pioneers by Sherwin B Nuland provides a great deal of insight into the subject.

The book is a large coffee table size book, which is unfortunate because it may discourage some from reading this. It is beautifully illustrated and printed on glossy paper. Each chapter is organized chronologically starting from the earliest known records of Hippocrates to modern times. It would be impossible to include every major advancement for 2,000 years, so the book just has highlights. The early history chapters were rather dull, but each successive chapter became increasingly more interesting. I loved the chapter on the discovery of the stethoscope and the development of pediatric cardiology. There are nuggets of information that I gleaned that helped me to see doctors in a new light.

Just a few caveats with this book. The author does share his opinions and interpretations rather freely which may be off putting. He has a definite point of view about the political and religious influences on medicine, which are mostly negative. If you can look past or disregard his opinions, then the book is a standout. Also, Dr. Nuland is a surgeon and there is an emphasis on surgery related history in the later chapters.

Book rating: 5 stars.



The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Long for this world

What causes our bodies to age? Jonathan Weiner explores the science of aging in his book Long for this world. Is it possible to live forever and can science make it possible?

Weiner* ties his various topics together by profiling lead scientists along the way - unfortunately he picks the most controversial and fringe scientists in the field. While it was slightly amusing, his descriptions and dialogue really didn't draw me into the subject. If anything, it turned me off and ultimately bored me. He does explain some of the science of the past and analyzes various advances in understanding how we age. But it was certainly a surface level point of view.

The book was lacking a serious overview of the subject matter. An overview can be written in an interesting, and even, entertaining way, but to drop bits and pieces through each chapter doesn't really help paint a whole picture. Clearly, the field is made up of interesting characters but surely there are others doing research of value.

I only made it about two thirds of the way through and gave up. I was bored out of mind and didn't feel anymore enlightened about the subject than before I started it.

Book Rating: 2 stars

*Apparently Weiner teaches how to write about science at some Eastern college. I haven't tackled his book on Finches. I hope it's better.

Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku

If you have any interest in cosmology and physics, Parallel Worlds might be the book to read to catch up on all the latest thinking on the subjects. Michio Kaku has a gift for presenting difficult information in a way that the lay person can understand.

The book primarily explains how physicists are trying to come up with a theory of everything or the grand unified theory. The intention is to have GUT represented by a single mathematical equation from which all the laws of physics can be derived. The difficulty over the years has been resolving the theory of relativity with quantum mechanics - the theories that explain the macro world with the micro. Physicists are close to their goal when they start playing around with String Theory. The implications of this are rather exciting but also challenges many long held beliefs about the nature, purpose and origin of the universe.

Michio Kaku organizes the book in a very logical manner. It begins with a survey of the theories of the past and present. This is followed by a deeper examination from the time of Einstein to the present day including the theory of relativity to explain the motion of the planets, gravity, speed of light, time travel and space travel. He then delves into how quantum mechanics can explain some of the anomalies that the theory of relativity can't explain. Melded into the discussion is the idea of multiple dimensions or parallel worlds. Finally he discusses the future and what it would take to travel vast distances in the universe including bridging the divide to another universe.

It's all fascinating stuff. It did take me a bit of time to work my way through it. There were a few things I didn't quite understand, but I did get the gist of it. I think I would like to read more of what Kaku writes.

Book Rating: 4 stars