Blood And Guts: A Short History of Medicine
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- Create Date：2021-05-09 10:55:49
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Roy Porter
- ISBN：0141010649
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Summary
Mankind's battle to stay alive is the greatest of all subjects。 This brief， witty and unusual book by Britain's greatest medical historian compresses into a tiny span a lifetime spent thinking about millennia of human ingenuity in the quest to cheat death。 Each chapter sums up one of these battlefields （surgery， doctors， disease， hospitals， laboratories and the human body） in a way that is both frightening and elating。 Startlingly illustrated， A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE is the ideal presentfor anyone who is keenly aware of their own mortality and wants to do something about it。 It is also a wonderful memorial to one of Penguin's greatest historians。
Reviews
Home Faber
，
* Tıbbın ana hatlarının ve tarihsel gelişiminin anlatıldığı kitapta， arka planda hastalığın ve içinde taşıdığı mücadele anlatılmaktadır。 İlk avcı toplayıcı dönemden doktorların taşıdığı görev ve misyonunu üstlenen birçok kişilik ortaya çıkmıştır。 Şamanlar， din adamları， alternatifler， şifacılar， büyücüler。。。** İlk ameliyattan， steteskop'un icadına， ilk sezeryana kadar， başarısız organ nakilleri， bulaşıcı hastalıkların hayatımıza etkisi， şifacı ve büyücülerden günümüze doktorluğun ve tıbbın tarih * Tıbbın ana hatlarının ve tarihsel gelişiminin anlatıldığı kitapta， arka planda hastalığın ve içinde taşıdığı mücadele anlatılmaktadır。 İlk avcı toplayıcı dönemden doktorların taşıdığı görev ve misyonunu üstlenen birçok kişilik ortaya çıkmıştır。 Şamanlar， din adamları， alternatifler， şifacılar， büyücüler。。。** İlk ameliyattan， steteskop'un icadına， ilk sezeryana kadar， başarısız organ nakilleri， bulaşıcı hastalıkların hayatımıza etkisi， şifacı ve büyücülerden günümüze doktorluğun ve tıbbın tarihi。。。*** İyi bir kitap olmakla birlikte， içinde bazı eksiklikleri içinde barındırmaktadır。 Her okura hitap etmeyecek derecede tıp terminolojisi ve Batı tıp tarihini eksen alması， Doğu tıp tarihine değinmemesi eleştirecek noktalardan。。。 。。。more
Naomi Ames
，
I read “Blood and Guts” by Roy Porter。 The novel is a non-fiction informative book that tells a brief summary of the entire history of medicine。 The goal of the book was to inform， and the intended audience was younger adults with the desire of studying medical topics。 I don’t think that it was really a book designed to please large numbers of people over a wide range of interests， and was very directed towards certain groups instead。 The author did not really have a set argument that I noticed， I read “Blood and Guts” by Roy Porter。 The novel is a non-fiction informative book that tells a brief summary of the entire history of medicine。 The goal of the book was to inform， and the intended audience was younger adults with the desire of studying medical topics。 I don’t think that it was really a book designed to please large numbers of people over a wide range of interests， and was very directed towards certain groups instead。 The author did not really have a set argument that I noticed， but was very elaborate about the way it was written， keeping the book very unbiased and factual。 I think that the author did a good job at writing it， and teaching the reader。 The book was very straight to the point and used other forms of sources other than just basic information， using primary sources such as pictures and quotes。 I do not think that there is any argument at all that needs to be placed。 Overall， I think that the book was very informative and did a good job at teaching me， as the reader about the history of medicine。 。。。more
K
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行文不佳，例子太少，有点杂乱。
Jack Greenwood
，
Porter is a man brimming with knowledge from every orifice， yet sometimes unable to shape his bubbling factual tide into something more coherent。A masterful command of langauge that can't help but alienate those who aren't diligently brandishing their pocket dictionary as they read。 It's a classic case of the academic versus teacher method of imparting knowledge: I'm not sure how much of the extensive wisdom actually stuck in my head。He'd be the sort of lecturer that'd be fascinating to listen t Porter is a man brimming with knowledge from every orifice， yet sometimes unable to shape his bubbling factual tide into something more coherent。A masterful command of langauge that can't help but alienate those who aren't diligently brandishing their pocket dictionary as they read。 It's a classic case of the academic versus teacher method of imparting knowledge: I'm not sure how much of the extensive wisdom actually stuck in my head。He'd be the sort of lecturer that'd be fascinating to listen to， layering story， upon story， upon story; demonstrating his unrivalled understanding。 Presenter: "Roy， you've gone 3 hours over your allotted time， people have got places to be。"Roy: "That reminds me， time is of central importance to medicinal history， the great surgeon Robert Liston honed his amputation technqiue to the point that he could have sawn your leg off in under 30 seconds。。。" 。。。。and on， and on， and on。 You wouldn't have the heart to interrupt again。It seems like Porter has tried to fit as much as humanely possible into this abridged version of his classic 872-page version。 However， that intention does come at a cost of clarity。 Some of his sentence strucutres made my head swim: By thus highlighting living pathogens， the microbe hunters who headed the new bacteriology made great strides towards solving the thorny problem of disease aetiology， though in the process throwing up the perplexing questions of susceptibility and resistance， which proved the matrix for the later science of immunology。 All that said， his style did grow on me， and I found myself enjoying the book more and more as it went on。 Particularly the chapters on Surgery and the concluding Medicine in Modern Society。 I will be reccomending it as a useful accompaniment to the GCSE History of Medicine course - Porter shows why this is one of most popular courses chosen in British schools for 14-16 year olds。 It's gruesome， gory， and downright absurd history。Ultimately， the world is a better place for the influence of minds like Porter's。 。。。more
Makayla
，
“A short history of medicine” is right。 It was so short that I often got lost in the fog of its shortcomings。 Excellent writing， very fun， but I got frustrated with the jumping timelines and quick-paced rhythm。
Mustang Sally
，
“Bıçak Altında” ve “Sakın Zarar Verme”den sonra okuduğum en güzel tıp tarihine ilişkin kitap
Mary Wyman
，
This was for a class， but I still enjoyed reading it。It’s a perfect little book about the history of medicine。 Short but detailed， focused on the subjects but open to include other tangent details， and big words used but very easy to understand （especially if your not a doctor， nurse， medicine buff， etc。 within the med field）。One thing I enjoyed the most out of reading the book is it’s honesty， bluntness， and lack of fear of stating the harsh truths。 Forgive me if these seem to be one thing， but This was for a class， but I still enjoyed reading it。It’s a perfect little book about the history of medicine。 Short but detailed， focused on the subjects but open to include other tangent details， and big words used but very easy to understand （especially if your not a doctor， nurse， medicine buff， etc。 within the med field）。One thing I enjoyed the most out of reading the book is it’s honesty， bluntness， and lack of fear of stating the harsh truths。 Forgive me if these seem to be one thing， but it still remains as a reason why I liked the book。Another thing I like about the book is the title， Blood & Guts。 Cool。If you’re interested in history， gore， and or medicine， then I suggest you give this a try。 It has pictures。Enjoy :） 。。。more
Jenny
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Great for history teachers， shame about the 1 instance of swearing as makes it tricky to recommend to students but overall great for a short but in depth overview
inekli bakkal
，
Gayet keyifli bir okuma deneyimiydi。 Hastalıkların， tıp biliminin， doktorluk mesleğinin ve tedavi yöntemlerinin ortaya çıkışı ve zaman içinde geçirdikleri dönüşümler， herkesin aşina olduğu kavram ve buluşların ortaya çıkışı gibi konulardan fazla detaya girilmeden genel anlamda bahsedilmiş。Yazar okuru tıbbi terimlere boğmadan genel bir bakış açısı sunmayı hedeflemiş ve başarmış bence。 Konu başlıkları mantıklı şekilde gruplanmış ve sıralanmış， bölümler içerisindeki tarihsel anlatım gayet takip edi Gayet keyifli bir okuma deneyimiydi。 Hastalıkların， tıp biliminin， doktorluk mesleğinin ve tedavi yöntemlerinin ortaya çıkışı ve zaman içinde geçirdikleri dönüşümler， herkesin aşina olduğu kavram ve buluşların ortaya çıkışı gibi konulardan fazla detaya girilmeden genel anlamda bahsedilmiş。Yazar okuru tıbbi terimlere boğmadan genel bir bakış açısı sunmayı hedeflemiş ve başarmış bence。 Konu başlıkları mantıklı şekilde gruplanmış ve sıralanmış， bölümler içerisindeki tarihsel anlatım gayet takip edilebilir。 Beklenen şekilde genel olarak batı tıbbı üzerinde durulmuş， arada bir İslam tıbbının， üçüncü dünya ülkelerinin ya da Rusya gibi diğer ülkelerin yaklaşımlarından bahsediliyor。 Genel olarak objektif bir bakış açısıyla nesnel bir anlatım mevcut， nadiren bazı konularda yazar kendi görüşlerini araya sıkıştırmış， çoğuna da katılmadan edemedim。 Özellikle insanlığa fayda sağlamak amacıyla oluşan bir bilim dalının nasıl giderek metalaştığına dair yazılanlar ilgi çekici。 。。。more
Kim
，
So very dry。
Rodrigo Lorenzi
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Interesting book， with nice information on some ancient practices and how things used to be， as well as how they evolved to they are now in medicine。 I think sometimes it gives too many names， more like a catalogue。
Duncan Wilson
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A brilliant brief history of various aspects of medicine。 Roy Porter has an accessible style that is educational and informative without ever being dry and obtuse。 Great little primer from which you can discover themes snd people to explore in further depth。
Jane
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A fast and interesting look at how medicine has evolved over the centuries （or even millenia）。 With such an enormous field to cover it's inevitable that Porter's account is very sketchy， but this is a book designed to get the reader started rather than give them detail。 The story is told by topic rather than chronologically; there's a bibliography arranged by chapter for those who want to explore any subject in depth。 I found it extremely easy to read and thought-provoking。 A fast and interesting look at how medicine has evolved over the centuries （or even millenia）。 With such an enormous field to cover it's inevitable that Porter's account is very sketchy， but this is a book designed to get the reader started rather than give them detail。 The story is told by topic rather than chronologically; there's a bibliography arranged by chapter for those who want to explore any subject in depth。 I found it extremely easy to read and thought-provoking。 。。。more
Brock Tarlton
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A VERY brief history。 There were anti-western themes， which is fine， just unwarranted。 Also， he placed in dozens of Latin phrases which were only confusing and didn't add anything of value。 Finally， he seemed to touch on hundreds of different events with only a few sentences dedicated to each， making a plurality of information easy to forget。 A VERY brief history。 There were anti-western themes， which is fine， just unwarranted。 Also， he placed in dozens of Latin phrases which were only confusing and didn't add anything of value。 Finally， he seemed to touch on hundreds of different events with only a few sentences dedicated to each， making a plurality of information easy to forget。 。。。more
Julie Morales
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I've always been fascinated by medicine， and the history of medicine captivates me。 This book is a crash course on a little bit of everything， from ancient medicine to today。The book begins with a discussion about various diseases and the arguments about how those diseases spread。 We read about mysterious plagues， smallpox， tuberculosis， then more modern diseases， or at least diseases that now had names and that we now had more of an understanding。Doctors are discussed next， from ancient healers I've always been fascinated by medicine， and the history of medicine captivates me。 This book is a crash course on a little bit of everything， from ancient medicine to today。The book begins with a discussion about various diseases and the arguments about how those diseases spread。 We read about mysterious plagues， smallpox， tuberculosis， then more modern diseases， or at least diseases that now had names and that we now had more of an understanding。Doctors are discussed next， from ancient healers to modern-day doctors， healers， midwives， and even the quacks or traveling salesmen， selling hoax medicine。The body and anatomy was discussed next。 It wasn't until relatively recently that we were able to learn about the innards and the workings of the human body。 Corpses were sacred and couldn't be tampered with， unless maybe the person had been a criminal， so autopsies were almost unheard-of。 Then there were the grave-robbers who sold bodies for research， and all sorts of other sketchy ways of getting their human guinea pigs。 Despite that， as they learned more about the human body， medicine， of course， progressed rapidly。The laboratory comes next。 That was some interesting reading。 The Germans and the French were rivals of sorts when it came to research。 As different chemicals were found， different tests could be performed， different medications could be developed， and medicine seemed to know no bounds。The discussion of therapies naturally followed， and it's here we read about the development of medication， from its early forms mostly as herbs， to opium， then to antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs。Surgery developed at a rate somewhat even with that of the exploration and learning of anatomy。 Surgery was originally done without anesthesia and was usually pretty simple。 It was often limited to battlefield treatments。 Innards weren't tampered with because they were unknown， and what was known was too risky to try。 Then they learned more about anatomy， anesthetics were developed and methods of sanitation were improved， until surgery became more than just a job done by a barber！The hospital was slow to develop。 It originally served more as a charity for the poor and needy， a sort of homeless shelter sometimes， mostly run by religious sects and didn't really have much to do with medicine。 Then they began to grow to be run by more secular organizations， funded in various ways， while the public hospitals were still financially strapped。 The wealthy still had most of their medical treatments at home until relatively recently， so even up until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries， hospitals began to have more doctors， teaching hospitals developed， and they began changing into some of the behemoths we know today， not just where the wretches went， and the more well-to-do kept their distance for fear of infection。The discussion of medicine in modern society mostly dealt with medicine and politics， the forming of medical insurance in various countries and how the role of general practitioners changed over the years， so now we have those， then doctors who don't work with patients outside of hospitals。I know this seems pretty lengthy， but even at that， I still feel like I barely scratched the surface of some of the topics discussed in this book。 It was quite interesting。 。。。more
Nathan Velson
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Very interesting little book full of fascinating facts about the history of disease， anatomy， medical research， and healthcare。 My only complaint is that because its a "short history"， at times it falls into just listing names and dates and loses the larger narrative。 Very readable however; I'm sure the author's larger works are quite illuminating。 Very interesting little book full of fascinating facts about the history of disease， anatomy， medical research， and healthcare。 My only complaint is that because its a "short history"， at times it falls into just listing names and dates and loses the larger narrative。 Very readable however; I'm sure the author's larger works are quite illuminating。 。。。more
Steven
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"The dread of disease， potential and actual， the pains of acute complaints and long-term ailments， and the terror of mortality number among our most universal and formidable experiences。" I intend to read Roy Porter's The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity at some point; until and before then， I thought I'd read his much condensed introduction to medicine， Blood & Guts。 The book is divided into eight chapters， each focusing on one aspect of medicine from a historical p "The dread of disease， potential and actual， the pains of acute complaints and long-term ailments， and the terror of mortality number among our most universal and formidable experiences。" I intend to read Roy Porter's The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity at some point; until and before then， I thought I'd read his much condensed introduction to medicine， Blood & Guts。 The book is divided into eight chapters， each focusing on one aspect of medicine from a historical perspective: Disease， Doctors， The Body， The Laboratory， Therapies， Surgery， The Hospital， and Medicine in Modern Society。 Porter's style is pleasant， and the chapters are quite nicely tied together。 Overall， it's a good little book if you want to read about the history of medicine in short and broad strokes。 。。。more
Livvi
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Wonderful。 I learned a lot。
Pearse Anderson
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I fell asleep almost but that's probably because I was tired and it was midterms。 Fine medical history， nothing too specific， broad Western front。 I fell asleep almost but that's probably because I was tired and it was midterms。 Fine medical history， nothing too specific， broad Western front。 。。。more
Dennis Littrell
，
A quick and unsettling readIn a sense this is a "lite" version of the late Roy Porter's well-received history of medicine from 1997， entitled The Greatest Benefit to Mankind。 He is also the editor of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine （1996） and was until his death professor of social history at University College London。But let's face it， the history of medicine has not been a pretty story， nor could it have been。 Most of history's physicians were flailing about in the dark， the surg A quick and unsettling readIn a sense this is a "lite" version of the late Roy Porter's well-received history of medicine from 1997， entitled The Greatest Benefit to Mankind。 He is also the editor of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine （1996） and was until his death professor of social history at University College London。But let's face it， the history of medicine has not been a pretty story， nor could it have been。 Most of history's physicians were flailing about in the dark， the surgeons as sawbones and barbers performing crude amputations and such without the aid of either anaesthetics or disinfectants， the practitioners as faith healers and quacks， dispensing placebos or poisons often without knowing which was which。 It wasn't until the late 19th century that the medical profession began to achieve some understanding of the real causes of illness and indeed understand how living things work and how and why they don't work。 Porter recalls some of the controversies about the vivisection of cadavers， and arguments about the causes of infectious disease: an argument made difficult because of course the microbes could not be discerned until about the time of Pasteur。Porter outlines this sobering story from the time of the Greeks to the present day in an objective and easily assimilated style。 He organizes the material into eight chapters focusing on Disease， Doctors， The Body， The Laboratory， Therapies， Surgery， The Hospital， and Medicine in Modern Society。 Along the way he delves into the politics （some sexual） and into the sociology of medicine around the globe。 There are suggestions for Further Reading and an Index。There are also about 40 rather appalling （some amusing） illustrations from previous centuries in this （for a change） accurately named little tome， showing the horrors of past medical practices。 They enliven Porter's text， but you may need a magnifying glass to catch all the nuances--as though you might want to do that！--since some of the prints， while small enough to fit the page are not large enough for the unaided eye。In short， this is a quick and unsettling read that may make the reader wonder about how future generations will view some of the medical procedures practiced today。 --Dennis Littrell， author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is” 。。。more
Shiva
，
very short indeed
Jeannette Nikolova
，
Also available on the WondrousBooks blog。I found this book in the most random way possible - I was visiting the apartment of a colleague of mine and， of course， browsing through her bookshelf， when I saw this title。 Being a fan of everything creepy， weird and morbid， I asked her about the book and she told me that it was left in the apartment by the previous tenant。 Quite the book to abandon， huh？In all honesty， Blood and Guts is not the most bloody book out there。 In fact， it's very far fro Also available on the WondrousBooks blog。I found this book in the most random way possible - I was visiting the apartment of a colleague of mine and， of course， browsing through her bookshelf， when I saw this title。 Being a fan of everything creepy， weird and morbid， I asked her about the book and she told me that it was left in the apartment by the previous tenant。 Quite the book to abandon， huh？In all honesty， Blood and Guts is not the most bloody book out there。 In fact， it's very far from it。 The title was rather misleading， but the book was overall enjoyable， aside from that。If it so happens that you are curious about medicine and its history， but you're not actually into the topic - at least not enough "into it" to buy a more detailed and comprehensive history book， Blood and Guts is the right one for you。This rather short illustrated history of medicine tells its reader about certain aspects of the medicine we know today and their historical development。 You can learn about the spread of viral diseases that we've all heard about， such as the plague， the Spanish flu and so on， as well as the development of cures for them; the creation of the first hospitals; the first autopsies， etc。 In case you want to get deeply into the topic， this book will not get you far， be warned。I quite enjoyed the first part of the book which was going through different diseases and how they spread around the world， as well as the first discoveries in medicine。 I started losing interest as we came nearer to our own time and the reason for that is that， I believe， a lot more was happening as time went on， so the book could not successfully encapsulate it and a large part of the end of the book somehow lacked substance。 It does sometimes happen when you try to fit as much information as possible in a limited space - things get very vague and loose their meaning （as I remember from my own university papers）。Nevertheless， the book was quite enjoyable for the overview that it provided on an otherwise rather huge subject。 I do recommend it to those of you who are curious to know， but not into the topic enough to， for example， start an actual study on the history of medicine。 。。。more
Caner Sahin
，
Tıp tarihini kısaca ve görseller ile anlatan güzel kaynak bir kitap。 Yalnız tıp ilmi için en önemli isimlerden birisi olan İbn-i Sina hakkında bahsedilmemesi hayal kırıklığı yarattı。
Monique Smith
，
Dnf’d at 50% not for me， this read more like required reading for school。 As a layperson this was super dry， I’m not the right audience for this though I do enjoy nonfiction this did nothing for me。 I didn’t want to force myself to finish this book， plus I knew I would most likely remember nothing/take anything away from finishing it。
Heidi
，
This book made me realise that I do not have an interest in the history of medicine。 I can thank it for that。
Kirby R。
，
Perhaps I should have paid better attention to the subtitle， but this read was certainly shorter than I had anticipated。 That is not to say that I found the book distasteful; it was， in fact， exactly what I had hoped to find， rife with brilliant （if a tad excruciating） medical facts and even pictures and paintings of the eras mentioned。 I only wish that certain sections （namely Disease， The Body， and Surgery） had been more fleshed out。
João Conrado
，
"Puede resultar sorpredente que lo primero que haya que pedirle a un hospital es lo no cause ningún daño" - Florence Nightingale。 "Puede resultar sorpredente que lo primero que haya que pedirle a un hospital es lo no cause ningún daño" - Florence Nightingale。 。。。more
Sophie
，
This was a really interesting book。As a short history of medicine， Roy Porter did a fantastic job of recounting all key points in western medicine's history。 In order to keep it short， this did mean skimming over details。 But that doesn't mean that it was lacking in any way。 The author examined medical history through several levels it occupies in society， whilst managing to keep it （roughly） chronological， and to delineate cultural differences where appropriate。 The attempt to try and summarise This was a really interesting book。As a short history of medicine， Roy Porter did a fantastic job of recounting all key points in western medicine's history。 In order to keep it short， this did mean skimming over details。 But that doesn't mean that it was lacking in any way。 The author examined medical history through several levels it occupies in society， whilst managing to keep it （roughly） chronological， and to delineate cultural differences where appropriate。 The attempt to try and summarise everything in such a way could get confusing from time to time， I'll admit。 But overall the ideas presented were well-informed， concise and thought-provoking。 。。。more
Nadia
，
3。5*
Lowbrow
，