Describes medical techniques such as brain surgery, splints, taking a pulse, forceps, and sanitation in ancient civilizations including the Stone Age, Egypt, Greece, China, India, and Rome.
Gr 6-8-This volume discusses the legacy of medical knowledge and technologies left by ancient doctors. In successive chapters, the authors discuss practices in ancient Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Greek, and Roman cultures in fascinating detail. Readers learn about brain surgery (trepanation) during the Stone Age, the use of Bengali ants to close sutures during surgery in India, and the beginnings of plastic surgery. Many of the practices continue to influence medical procedures today, and the authors make these connections clear. The lively text does not go into great depth, making this a good candidate for browsing as well as for report writing. Clear, color photos and reproductions of ancient texts; Roman surgical instruments; and portions of pottery, painting, and sculpture showing doctors at work add interest and help students visualize the different time periods and cultures. The only flaw is the lack of source notes in the text (only photo sources are acknowledged). Nevertheless, libraries needing information on this interesting subject may want to add this otherwise useful book to their collections.-Jennifer Ralston, Harford County Public Library, Belcamp, MD
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