Opinions: The above summary says it all: The Medicine Book is packed full of easy-to-read information, making education accessible to anybody interested in biology, no matter your age or background knowledge on the subject. Expanding on this, the narrative is clear and every single page is decorated with timelines and diagrams to depict the reactions and cycles being discussed! Whether you're a grade schooler with a passion for medicine or an adult needing to catch up on the basics, the easy-to-read writing style and timelines have got you covered. Complimenting this, DK Publishing maintained a healthy balance between shop-talk and vibrant images, meaning all readers can maintain their engagement and not be discouraged by a too-mature or too-childish display. However, The Medicine Book is quite dense and, in my opinion, could not be used to spark a passion for medicine in children. Middle or high schoolers may be struck by individual chapters, for example cloning or females in the medical field, but there is too much nitty-gritty "jargon" for those without a passion for medicine to stay connected.

My Favourite Thing: Without giving too much of the content away, I loved the information The Medicine Book taught! You will learn biology, chemistry, ancient practices, history, and even biographies of famous doctors, nurses, and medical professionals. Whether you're writing a research paper or not, this book is perfect for learning exactly what you need to know about the world of medicine.

My Least Favourite Thing: It's worth being prepared for all 336 pages of The Medicine Book because, as I said above, you learn biology and chemistry... but also history, ancient practices, and professionals' biographies. Considering at least 1/3 of this book teaches the history of medicine, at least 1/6 of this book focuses on dates, names, and detailed locations that are irrelevant to learning about medicine itself. This is not a fault of the book, but you should know what you're getting into beforehand so you aren't let down.

Recommended For and Similar Reads: The Medicine Book is a nonfiction science guide for readers with a passion for medicine, historical doctors, and/or ancient medical practices! Similar reads are You and Your Strange Brain by Clive Gifford, The Rise and Fall of Modern Science by James le Fanu, Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies by Maggie Norris, The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris.

Public health enemy number one- pandemics. Yes, one year in I definitely agree.
Ok but my favorite section was medicine needs men and women! Say it with me everyone- Men and women have different needs!!
It’s a really easy read, personally I don’t think you have to be an expert in medicine to read this. The opposite actually, if you’re even remotely interested in medicine or science, I highly recommend you try this out.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great reference book for schools and for anyone interested in medicine and medical history. It covers a wide array of topics and cultures in easy to understand language, but there is still and overwhelming amount of information. I don't think this is a book to read cover to cover, but it's an excellent starting point for finding something you're interested in and getting a taste. The illustrations and references (specifically the "In Context" and "See Also" sections) are great.

Excellent, up-to-date look at medicine through the ages

I enjoyed this book. The book covers many areas of medicine, including anatomy, pharmacology, surgery, psychiatry, infectious diseases, and immunology. The entries are very well written, with crystal-clear explanations. From a historical perspective, the book has a fairly global view. My favorite parts of the book were the biographical highlights on each topic. The Directory towards the end of the book was also fascinating, containing brief entries on some lesser-known people. Each sub-chapter in the book also contains a Context section to show what happened chronologically before and after the subject of the entry. The timelines were also very useful. The book had an encyclopedic feel to it, with enough information to hold my interest but not too detailed, so I never felt bogged down. I found the art in the book to be excellent. This book could be of interest to people with or without a medical background. Thank you to NetGalley and DK for the advance reader copy.

Fascinating book. Amazing graphics. Wide range of topics and was interesting to read the history behind it.

Readers who have looked at previous entries in the "Big Ideas" series will find a familiar layout and scope of content in The Medicine Book. At once a historical timeline and a series of quick, informative 5-minute read articles, this will appeal broadly to anyone interested in medicine, science, or the historical development of either. While its written for a general, adult audience, advanced middle grades readers and high schoolers will definitely find appeal in these visually rich and detailed articles. As expected, the content is highly up-to-date, including an entry on pandemics including the COVID-19 global pandemic. Will absolutely recommend!

I thought that The Medicine Book did a good job exploring a variety of topics, from examining how medicine first started out to new discoveries in genetics and nanomedicine. While the book does explain complex topics in more plain English, it is still sometimes hard to read and comes across more like a school textbook with so much information compressed onto a page. I enjoyed seeing COVID-19 represented in the pandemic section, as well as learning more about previous pandemics and how viruses transmit. This book is very informative, but did not suck me into reading it and was even sluggish at times to me. I think I expected not only a plain english explanation of big ideas, but also a more simplified and compressed explanation. For some people who enjoy reading very scientific books, that almost come across like a textbook or scientific journal, this would be the book for you, unfortunately I am not one of those people.

Jam packed with information on the history of medicine, its founders and specialists, research and progress, The Medicine Book is utterly fascinating! The writing style is fun and informative with bits and blurbs, quotations and biographies, photographs and illustrations. I really like the timelines and graphs, too.

Amazingly, there is evidence of trepanning in ancient times, several thousand years ago. You will find topics such as different methods of healing (i.e. shamans, Chinese medicine, Roman surgery), the mechanics of disease, very early reconstructive surgery (India was the most advanced for ages), the Hippocratic oath, Galen's (and many others' contributions), the use of plants to alleviate pain, reason vs. rules, philosophy, ethics, the discovery and role of root causes of illness, experiments with blood transfusions (with animals to animals, animals to humans...), anaesthesia (including laughing gas), addressing individual needs including male and female, the role of vitamins and diet, penicillin...so much interesting information! There is even a section on pandemics including the coronavirus.

My favourite parts were the biographies of the brilliant men and women and their discoveries, research and inventions. To me the ingenuity is largely incomprehensible. Anyone even vaguely fascinated with medicine ought to read this book. You are sure to glean quite a lot of knowledge!

My sincere thank you to DK and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this informative (and fun!) book in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated.

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.