Disease and medicine in world history / Sheldon Watts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watts, S. J. (Sheldon J.)

Series:

Themes in world history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medicine--History.

Medicine.

History.

Disease.

History of Medicine.

Global Health.

Medical Subjects:

Disease.

History of Medicine.

Global Health.

Physical Description:

166 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2003.

Summary:

Disease and Medicine in World History is a concise introduction to diverse ideas about diseases and their treatment throughout the world. Drawing on case studies from ancient Egypt to present-day America, Asia and Europe, this survey discusses concepts of sickness and forms of treatment in many cultures. Sheldon Watts shows that many medical systems in the past were shaped as much by philosophers and metaphysicians as by university-trained doctors and other practitioners. This volume is a landmark contribution to the field of world history. It covers the principal medical systems known in the past, based on extensive original research. Watts raises questions about globalization in medicine and the potential impact of infectious diseases in the present day.

Contents:

Sickness and health, a global concern

Before the advent of acute epidemic diseases : pharaonic Egypt and the preconquest New World : extinct societies

Pluralism in ancient Greece

The evolution of medical systems in the Middle East c. 632 CE to modern times

Health and disease on the Indian subcontinent before 1869

Medicine and disease in China : concepts and practices from c. 1900 BCE to 1840 CE

The globalization of disease after 1450

Medicine and disease in the West, 1054-1840

The birth of modern scientific medicine : the German lands contrasted with the United Kingdom and the British in India

Health and medicine in the world, 1940 to the present.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [143]-156) and index.

ISBN:

0415278163

0415278171

OCLC:

51009097