Porter, Roy

Traces the evolution of the practice of medicine from the quasi-religious rituals of the tribal shaman to the computer-based diagnostic techniques of the late twentieth century, discussing herbalism, Eastern and Western medical traditions, surgery, psychiatry, and other topics.

Traces the story of key developments and events in medical history from antiquity to modern times, examining the interrelation of disease, health, and medicine, and emphasizing the complex functions that medicine has fulfilled in society.

A history of medicine from antiquity through the 1990s, focusing on medical ideas about disease, medical teachings about healthy and unhealthy bodies, and medical models of life and death, and discussing the people and professional groups who have been responsible for such beliefs and practices.