Doctors

Più che una storia organica della medicina, una raccolta di biografie di medici illustri e meno illustri (da cui il titolo originale, appunto Doctors), scritta con una partecipazione evidente dell'autore - chirurgo - e con uno stile assai coinvolgente. Libro molto interessante, che mi rende lieto di essere nato in quest'epoca di medicina forse un po' spersonalizzata, ma sicuramente molto più sicura di quanto fosse anche solo cinquant'anni fa.

Whiggish history, at its worst. This book did contain a lot of information, I just wish Nuland had kept his opinions about how science and medicine "should be" out of it. Also, his writing had far too many poetical flourishes for my taste. It was really quite annoying to hear him go on page-long love notes to the scientific methods of certain surgeons and doctors. I was also annoyed by the focus on surgeons, the inherent Western bias, and the complete absence of any mention of the contributions of nurses to medicine. It should be titled Doctors (Well, Really, Surgeons): The Biography of a Very Small Portion of Western Medicine.

Interesting tidbits but not enthralling overall

Couldn't finish this. Good stories buried in flowery, rambling writing with too much of the author's opinion on what-should-have-been.