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The Medical Detective
Sandra Hempel
€ 16.99
€ 12.73
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Description for The Medical Detective
Paperback. In 1831, Cholera swept from Asia across Continental Europe, killing millions and throwing the medical profession into confusion. John Snow worked out that cholera spreads through drinking water. Drawing on 19th century medical, political and personal records, this book presents various diversions into aspects of medical and social history. Num Pages: 304 pages, Illustrations. BIC Classification: 1DBK; 3JH; HBJD; HBLL; MBNS; MBX; MJCJ. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 198 x 130 x 21. Weight in Grams: 236.
In 1831, an unknown, horrifying and deadly disease from Asia swept across Continental Europe, killing millions in its path and throwing the medical profession into confusion. Cholera is a killer with little respect for class or wealth. When it arrived in Britain, its repercussions rocked Victorian England - from the filthy lanes of the Sunderland quayside and the squalid streets of Soho, to the great centres of power: the Privy Council, Whitehall and the Royal Medical Colleges. One man - alone and unrecognized - uncovered the truth behind the pandemic and laid the foundations for the modern scientific investigation of today's fatal plagues. John Snow was a reclusive doctor, without money or social position, who had the genius to look beyond the conventional wisdom of his day and work out that cholera was spread through drinking water. The book draws extensively on nineteenth-century medical, political and personal records in order to describe what is both an important breakthrough for medical science and also a dramatic story with a cast of colourful characters, from the heroic to the frighteningly incompetent. The book is also full of fascinating diversions into aspects of medical and social history, from Snow's tending of Queen Victoria in childbirth, to the Dutch microbiologist Leeuwenhoek's breeding of lice in his socks, and from Dickensian children's farms to riotous nineteenth-century anaesthesia parties.
Product Details
Publisher
Granta Books
Number of pages
304
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2007
Condition
New
Number of Pages
304
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781862079373
SKU
V9781862079373
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-99
About Sandra Hempel
Sandra Hempel is a journalist and copy writer who has written for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Mail on Sunday, as well as for the Department of Health and the NHS. She lives in London with her two daughters.
Reviews for The Medical Detective
Ripping yarns from the dawn of proper medicine
Ben Goldacre
Guardian
Ben Goldacre
Guardian