Praise for A History of Music in 50 Instruments, also in this "Wilkinson's history unfolds like a symphonic work with instrument makers, composers and virtuosic performers picking up these incredible creations and exposing their beauty and capability. To open it up is to be instantly hooked." — Publishers Weekly A History of Medicine in 50 Objects takes readers on a 12,000-year journey to explore significant items that have advanced medical knowledge and practice. The fifty objects range from the everyday (a bottle of Aspirin) to singular medical advances (heart transplant pioneer Christian Bernard on the cover of TIME magazine). The objects are presented chronologically and described in two to four pages with illustrations, 150 beautiful archive images in all. Fact boxes note Location, Date, and Field, for example, epidemiology. Engaging text describes the artifacts in their social and cultural context, as well as their role in disease treatment and prevention. Centuries of invention and risk-taking have saved lives and advanced life expectancy. The first object is a Neolithic skull (ca 10,000 BCE) showing evidence of trephination, a hole deliberately cut into the skull of a living person and likely the first surgical practice. It was done widely well into the Renaissance, with surprising success, and is still done today, though rarely. The last object, like many others, was borne of tragedy. It is the protective gear designed for medical workers during the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak. The objects come in all shapes and sizes—an X-ray diffraction image of a DNA molecule; the first tuberculosis sanatorium. They are the everyday and the extraordinary—a thermometer; a thought-controlled prosthetic limb. They are of society and of controversy—cigarette package health warnings; Sigmund Freud's couch. All have a fascinating and entertaining story to tell about medicine as it unfolded over millennia. A History of Medicine in 50 Objects is an essential choice for general and specialty collections. Like the other titles in The History of... series, it is an exceptional selection for reluctant readers.
Author
Gill Paul is the international bestselling author of twelve historical novels, many of them about real women from the past whom she thinks have been marginalized or misjudged by historians. Her novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Toronto Globe & Mail charts, and have been translated into twenty-two languages. Her latest novel, A BEAUTIFUL RIVAL (2023), is about the infamous feud between beauty tycoons Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. JACKIE AND MARIA (2020) was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown. THE COLLECTOR'S DAUGHTER (2021) was named a Times ‘historical novel of the month’ and THE MANHATTAN GIRLS (2022), was reviewed in The Sun as a “sweeping, evocative tale” and in The Book List as “Witty, emotional and intelligent”. Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A History of Medicine in 50 Objects and a series of Love Stories. Published around the world, this series includes Royal Love Stories, World War I Love Stories and Titanic Love Stories. Gill lives in London where she swims daily in a wild pond, and speaks at libraries and literary festivals on topics ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.
