An accessible guide to more than 90 of the most important and groundbreaking milestones in the history of medicine, and the people behind them.

How are illnesses diagnosed? What is cancer? Why are some pandemics so deadly?

This book explores big questions like these, explaining the breakthroughs and discoveries that have shaped our modern-day understanding of medicine and helped us protect and promote our health. Written in plain English, The Medicine Book cuts through the jargon and is packed with pithy explanations of the most important milestones in medical history, with step-by-step diagrams and witty illustrations that untangle knotty concepts.

From ancient medical practices, such as herbal medications and balancing the humours, through groundbreaking work including Jenner’s experiments with cowpox, which laid the basis for vaccination, The Medicine Book offers an engaging overview of medical history across the world all the way into the 21st century with gene manipulation, immunotherapy, and robotics and telesurgery. Covering the role that therapies and drugs have played in the human quest to treat and prevent disease, the establishment of hospitals and later international medical bodies, like the WHO, and medical science’s response to new challenges, such as accelerated antibiotic resistance and COVID-19, The Medicine Book explains the stories behind each milestone development.

Continuing the Big Ideas series’ trademark combination of authoritative, informative text, and bold graphics, The Medicine Book uses an innovative visual approach to make the subject accessible to everyone, whether you’re a student of medicine or science, a medical professional, or an armchair expert.