—American Scientist
The cataclysmic clash of medical ideas and personalities comes to colorful life
In this follow-up to the critically acclaimed Great Feuds in Science (Wiley: 0-471-16980-3), Hal Hellman tells the stories of the ten most heated and important disputes of medical science. Featuring a mix of famous and lesser-known stories, Great Feuds in Medicine includes the fascinating accounts of William Harvey's battle with the medical establishment over his discovery of the circulation of blood; Louis Pasteur's fight over his theory of germs; and the nasty dispute between American Robert Gallo and French researcher Luc Montagnier over who discovered the HIV virus. An informative and insightful look at how such medical controversies are not only typical, but often necessary to the progress of the science.Direct download links available for PRETITLE Great Feuds in Medicine: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever POSTTITLE
- File Size: 455 KB
- Print Length: 256 pages
- Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (July 27, 2007)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00DNL0AXK
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,227,640 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
Great Feuds in Medicine: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever PDF
Men. I can say that, because all of these feuds involved men, except for one concerning Rosalind Franklin and the DNA fiasco...with one of my least favorite scientists, Watson.
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of ego that gets involved in scientific and medical discoveries. It's humongous! Fights concerning rights of discoveries or inventions, fights concerning doing the right thing for the patient (rather than the doctor), etc. have existed since the beginning of time and are continuing today. The very last section of the book had to do with the discovery of the AIDS virus by Gallo (American) and Montagnier (French).
Some of the earlier feuds had to do with the discovery of how the body really works through doing dissections of both animals and human cadavers. This was frowned upon by the Church, which basically ran society during the middle ages and into the Renaissance, but some brave men like Harvey and Di Vinci went ahead and did what needed to be done. So when they actually published their findings, all hell often broke lose. This often put these physicians and scientists at risk for life, but their refusal to rely on ancient theories from Galen is what paved the way for modern medicine.
I enjoyed the way Hellman writes. He's a little bit of of a cynic and smart aleck, just my type...since I'm that way myself. The information is concise and interesting. I knew about some of the fights from previous medical histories, but Hellman often gave information that wasn't available in these books.
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