Praise for A History of Music in 50 Instruments, also in this series:

"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.

Of all the countless objects in medical history, Paul has selected 50 to illustrate the development of medical thought and practice. The author's choices are eclectic and catholic. They span the prehistoric (trepanning) to the modern (gene splicing) and derive from a wide range of locations -- Europe and North America to India and China. A short essay associated with each object explains the choice and offers further information about the object's role in the development of medicine. The essays are engaging -- for example, one illustrates that there is more to the Snellen Eye Chart than meets the eye. Paul takes a historical approach; the focus on the creation of modern medicine imposes a whiggish teleology on the text. Nonetheless, the book is not aimed at professional historians. An individual at any level of education will read this book with great profit. Modern medicine governs much of one's personal and communal life, so this introduction to medicine's origins and reach is a welcome addition to the literature. The book's physical production adds to its value -- it is well illustrated, well designed, and well produced. Highly recommended. All readers.