Examines the fascinating role of medicine in ancient military cultures; Shows how the ancients understood the body, patched up their warriors, and sent them back into battle; Reveals medical secrets lost during the Dark Ages; Explores how ancient civilizations' technologies have influenced modern medical practices
This journey to the beginnings of the physician's art brings to life the civilizations of the ancient world--Egypt of the Pharaohs, Greece at the time of Hippocrates, Rome under the Caesars, the India of Ashoka, and China as Mencius knew it. Probing the documents and artifacts of the ancient world with a scientist's mind and a detective's eye, Guido Majno pieces together the difficulties people faced in the effort to survive their injuries, as well as the odd, chilling, or inspiring ways in which they rose to the challenge. In asking whether the early healers might have benefited their patients, or only hastened their trip to the grave, Dr. Majno uncovered surprising answers by testing ancient prescriptions in a modern laboratory. Illustrated with hundreds of photographs, many in full color, and climaxing ten years of work, The Healing Hand is a spectacular recreation of man's attempts to conquer pain and disease.
In a moonlit graveyard somewhere in southern Italy, a soldier removes his clothes in readiness to transform himself into a wolf. He depends upon the clothes to recover his human shape, and so he magically turns them to stone, but his secret is revealed when, back in human form, he is seen to carry a wound identical to that recently dealt to a marauding wolf. In Arcadia a man named Damarchus accidentally tastes the flesh of a human sacrifice and is transformed into a wolf for nine years. At Temesa Polites is stoned to death for raping a local girl, only to return to terrorize the people of the city in the form of a demon in a wolfskin. Tales of the werewolf are by now well established as a rich sub-strand of the popular horror genre; less widely known is just how far back in time their provenance lies. These are just some of the werewolf tales that survive from the Graeco-Roman world, and this is the first book in any language to be devoted to their study. It shows how in antiquity werewolves thrived in a story-world shared by witches, ghosts, demons, and soul-flyers, and argues for the primary role of story-telling-as opposed to rites of passage-in the ancient world's general conceptualization of the werewolf. It also seeks to demonstrate how the comparison of equally intriguing medieval tales can be used to fill in gaps in our knowledge of werewolf stories in the ancient world, thereby shedding new light on the origins of the modern phenomenon. All ancient texts bearing upon the subject have been integrated into the discussion in new English translations, so that the book provides not only an accessible overview for a broad readership of all levels of familiarity with ancient languages, but also a comprehensive sourcebook for the ancient werewolf for the purposes of research and study.
Over the last five centuries, the development of modern weapons and warfare has created an entirely new set of challenges for practitioners in the field of military medicine. Between Flesh and Steel traces the historical development of military medicine from the Middle Ages to modern times. Military historian Richard A. Gabriel focuses on three key elements: the modifications in warfare and weapons whose increased killing power radically changed the medical challenges that battle surgeons faced in dealing with casualties, advancements in medical techniques that increased the effectiveness of military medical care, and changes that finally brought about the establishment of military medical care system in modern times. Others topics include the rise of the military surgeon, the invention of anesthesia, and the emergence of such critical disciplines as military psychiatry and bacteriology. The approach is chronological--century by century and war by war, including Iraq and Afghanistan--and cross-cultural in that it examines developments in all of the major armies of the West: British, French, Russian, German, and American. Between Flesh and Steel is the most comprehensive book on the market about the evolution of modern military medicine.
This work sheds light on the mostly obscure topic of medicine and its use in the Roman military. It explores the workings of the ancient healthcare system, the methods of care by physicians, and the treatments for different ailments and injuries. The contributions utilise historical writings, archeological artifacts, and more recent research on the United States military in order to discuss the past with an eye on the future of military and wildlife survival.
In this investigation of the treatment of battle trauma in antiquity, 'treatment' is used in a double sense, both as actual medical treatment and literary 'treatment' in non-medical sources. Part I deals with the practical, medical aspects of the topic: the types of wounds likely to result from a battle, their surgical and pharmacological treatment, the question of medical services in ancient armies, medical terminology and the availability of medical knowledge. Part II discusses the use of scenes of wounding and wound treatment in literature, and Part III is a survey of the archaeological evidence. This is the first monograph to examine the topic in all its different aspects; it should be of interest to classicists, medical historians and military historians.
Though centered on a single Jamaican sugar estate, Worthy Park, and dealing largely with the period of formal slavery, this book is firmly placed in far wider contexts of place and time. The "Invisible Man" of the title is found, in the end, to be not just the formal slave but the ordinary black worker throughout the history of the plantation system. Michael Craton uses computer techniques in the first of three main parts of his study to provide a dynamic analysis of the demographic, health, and socioeconomic characteristics of the Worthy Park slaves as a whole. The surprising diversity and complex interrelation of the population are underlined in Part Two, consisting of detailed biographies of more than 40 individual members of the plantation's society, including whites and mulattoes as well as black slaves. This is the most ambitious attempt yet made to overcome the stereotyping ignorance of contemporary white writers and the muteness of the slaves themselves. Part Three is perhaps the most original section of the book. After tracing the fate of the population between the emancipation of 1838 and the present day through genealogies and oral interviews, Craton concludes that the predominant feature of plantation life has not been change but continuity, and that the accepted definitions of slavery need considerable modification.
In recent years the approach towards rib fractures has evolved. Abandoned in the past, due to inadequate instrumentation and lack of evidence, rib fixation has recently re-emerged as a treatment option for trauma patients. There have been a number of advances over the last 25 years that now allow surgeons to internally fix rib fractures that otherwise may have not had other options. However, as a result there has been a rapid increase in literature and many institutions interested in initiating rib fixation programs. Due to a variety of practitioners involved namely, trauma surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and thoracic surgeons there has been no comprehensive guide to patient selection, technique, and post-operative care. The purpose of this text is to fill the educational gap for those trauma, orthopedic, and thoracic surgeons interested in learning the cutting edge evidence-based approaches to treatment of rib fractures. This topic has caught the interest of many and has been a recurrent theme at surgical meetings over the last two years. Although there has been ever increasing levels of interest and experience nationally there are many questions which remain. This text will provide not only the theoretical background for improving outcomes in those with rib fractures but also serve as a practical guide to those interested in starting new programs. The text will include tips and tricks that can be used in the OR or at the bedside to improve patient care. Therefore, the focus will be on a comprehensive review but also including tips and tricks from the most experienced surgeons around the country who are performing internal fixation for rib fractures.
Here, at last, is the massively updated and augmented second edition of this landmark encyclopedia. It contains approximately 1000 entries dealing in depth with the history of the scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the United States and Europe. The entries consist of fully updated articles together with hundreds of entirely new topics. This unique reference work includes intercultural articles on broad topics such as mathematics and astronomy as well as thoughtful philosophical articles on concepts and ideas related to the study of non-Western Science, such as rationality, objectivity, and method. You’ll also find material on religion and science, East and West, and magic and science.