[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]
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This beautiful book teaches the history of medicine, from ancient times, through the renaissance and birth of modern medicine, all the way to contemporary issues, like stem cell research. It is “beautiful,” because it is full of large, detailed photographs showing artifacts, people, and tools from throughout the history of medicine. It not only covers history in a “deep” way (going back in time), but it also does so “broadly” (learning from different cultures around the world).
The book is designed like an American textbook. Most pages have nice photographs, famous quotes, and small text boxes covering different topics. On the one hand, the book’s size and thickness makes it scary; on the other hand, every topic or sub-topic is covered in just 1-2 pages. As I suggested in my introduction to Mammoth Science, you can learn a lot just by reading 2 pages a day. Or, you could keep this book in the English Lounge, open it up in the conversation corner, and use it to start an interesting conversation.
My two cents: The size and scope of this book makes it interesting not only for medical students, but also for anyone interested in different cultures, human history, or technology.
