Doctors and Discoveries tells the story of Western medicine through the lives of its most influential figures, chosen for their relevance to contemporary medicine. With eighty-six profiles-from Hippocrates to today's gene hunters-this is the most extensive collection to be published in a single volume in more than fifty years. Famous figures like Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard are profiled alongside lesser-known but intriguing figures such as patent-medicine pioneer Lydia Pinkham and the founder of chiropractic, D. D. Palmer. Founders, modernizers, and heroes are presented in a spirited and engaging style that makes for engrossing reading or browsing. Doctors and Discoveries is the perfect gift for anyone interested in history, science, or just great storytelling. "For the history of medicine, and much of modern medicine itself, there can be no better introduction than these biographies skillfully woven into our accumulated knowledge. They make for compulsive reading." (Edward O. Wilson, University Professor at Harvard University)